The Lovely Irony
by bballgirl32
Summary: A time-turner accident turns out to be anything but accidental when a seemingly insignificant Gryffindor is roped into a scheme to return a long-dead dark lord to power. Misconceptions run rampant, unlikely friendships are forged, and with terrible tragedy comes the knowledge that the fate of the world rests in unquestionably dangerous hands... Tom Riddle/OC
1. Prologue

**A/N- Hey y'all. Anyone who's read Prejudice and Pride possibly remembers something of a long-forgotten promise of mine to write another Tom Riddle fic. Despite the fact that that was about a million years ago, I was recently struck with a blast of inspiration and so have decided to post my first new Harry Potter fic in over a year. It'll be Tom Riddle/OC, and _yes_, it will be a time travel story, although I'll try to avoid all other cliches as best I can. **

**Now here's a short little prologue. **

...

She fancied that 1945 was beginning to look a lot like it had the first time the year had passed- two powerful wizards were getting ready to duel for control of Europe, no one was able or willing to stop them, and there was a pretty good chance the world was going to go to hell if the wrong person walked away victorious.

The wizards faced each other and bowed their heads. Everything froze, time stopped, and wands were raised. No one in the room dared to breathe.

It would have been the perfect moment for her to sneak in a killing curse, to take out the dark wizard when he was least expecting it, but she was half-conscious and her arm was shattered. The battle, though her fault, was clearly not hers to fight. She would have to wait and watch and hope, and maybe, just maybe, the right wizard would win.

It was ridiculous, that the power to change _everything _had been given to the one person who had the potential to use it in the worst way. Then again, so many coincidences and missteps and impossibilities had happened to give Riddle this single chance of redemption that she had to wonder if it wasn't the way that things were supposed to have gone the first time.

No. That was wishful thinking. She had messed everything up, and it was not supposed to be like this, but it _was_, and now she was praying that this person who would go on to kill so many could win this single battle.

The fate of the world depended on it.

...

**Please tell me what you think! Any suggestions are much appreciated, and the legit chapter one should be up within the hour. **

**~bballgirl32~**


	2. An Unfortunate Lack of Grace

Chapter 1: An Unfortunate Lack of Grace

...

**June 25th, 1995: The Department of Mysteries**

Albus Dumbledore wandered the Hall of Prophecy, his bright eyes carefully scanning shelves that were old as time itself. For the fourth time in less than a week, he was checking to make sure Sybil Trelawney's prophecy was where it was supposed to be. Tom had always been exceptionally talented at thievery, and Albus worried that the dark wizard would one day stroll into the Ministry of Magic and steal the glass ball without raising a single Order member's notice.

It was a ridiculous notion, but war turned even the greatest of men into fools, and so Albus wound his way around numerous shelves in search of the precious orb.

The aged wizard moved to turn a corner, but, in his carelessness, caught his foot on a shelf. Albus held his breath as thousands of prophecies teetered back and forth, but, to his relief, only one fell. Dumbledore scrambled to catch it, his fingers curling around the glass sphere moments before it hit the ground.

Albus chided himself for his clumsiness and moved to replace the ball, but stopped abruptly when he realized that it was speaking to him. He was quite certain that he had never made a prophecy, and no one had ever told him of one concerning himself… intrigued, he listened carefully.

_ "The days of darkness approach… waiting to be prompted by a threat unseen… he yearns to alter deeds long done… to slay the greatest of men and restore the _purest_ of evil… he will not fail… his success will right what has always been wrong… but rules shall be broken and many shall suffer… and only he who can best destroy holds the strength to preserve peace… he who can best destroy… must preserve… peace…" _

The voice trailed off, and Albus blinked at the prophecy several times.

That was not good.

Albus's normally even breathing faltered unsteadily. Though he was not quite the man that many believed him to be, he had a keen feeling that his role in the prophecy was not a happy one. It was immensely troubling to hear that a dark wizard would _'yearn… to slay the greatest of men', _and that, _'he will not fail'_.

"Perhaps I should tell Minerva," mused Albus.

Quickly, he shook off the idea.

There were bigger, more urgent things to worry about. If he survived the war, he would tell Minerva. If not, well, sometimes it was best to let prophecies fulfill themselves.

...

**October 6th, 2018: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

The fates had an extremely strong sense of irony, Madeline Connolly concluded as she slid down the last half of one of Hogwarts's many staircases, to have allowed her parents to give her a middle name as inapt as 'Grace'. Her bum thudded along the last three steps, and upon reaching the final one, the Gryffindor pitched onto the floor and slid another few feet before finally skidding to a stop.

Maddie sat there for a long moment, in the middle of a random corridor, her hands balled into fists, and her teeth clenched against letting loose a frustrated howl.

A snack! All she'd wanted was a simple sandwich, maybe a glass of milk, but the stupid castle insisted upon making things difficult. The staircase had shifted just as she was getting on: too late for her to jump off and find another way to the kitchens, but plenty early to throw her off balance and send her tumbling like a bowling ball.

With a low huff, Maddie climbed to her feet, dusted off her aching bum, and dug her wand out of her pocket to make sure the thing wasn't broken. Once she confirmed that the wand was indeed still in one piece, Maddie returned it to her pocket before attempting to place her current location.

Funnily enough, she couldn't recognize any of her surroundings. The Gryffindor knew the castle inanely well from dozens of evenings spent roaming the corridors, but it didn't seem as if she'd tumbled into any of her usual haunts. In fact, if she didn't know any better, Madeline would almost say that she'd been tossed into one of the dodgier corners of the dungeons. It was cold enough, anyway, and strangely dark. Besides, she _had_ fallen downwards, so the dungeons were a relatively logical conclusion.

Figuring that Slytherin territory probably wasn't the safest place for a Mudblood Gryffindor to be hiding out in the middle of the night, Maddie began wandering forward. She had no idea where she was going, but sitting still most definitely wasn't an option. Besides, all she had to do was find a friendly looking portrait to lead her in the right direction, and she would be just peachy. Then she'd head back up to Gryffindor Tower, take a nice little nap, and be all chipper for classes the next day.

Or at least she hoped she'd be. Maddie bit her lip slightly, unable to completely ignore her terrible headache and slight fever. She should be able to make it through one more day of classes, but not if she didn't get to sleep soon. It was already hard enough, struggling through schoolwork during her 'time of the month.' She didn't need a sleepless night to make things worse.

"I'll be fine," Maddie whispered to herself. "'m really not even all that sick yet, and this is an interesting enough adventure, wandering the dungeons by myself. No matter that I'm probably not going to get my bloody snack, at least- _OOMPH." _

Something slammed headlong into Maddie, and the Gryffindor went stumbling backwards, landing hard on her already tender bottom. Before she could really comprehend what was going on, an invisible body fell on top of her. There was a loud shattering noise like breaking glass, a half-formed curse uttered in a voice that Maddie vaguely recognized, and then, before she could say or do anything else, the world froze for a long second before everything started spinning.

Images flew by in a barrage of colors, and despite her best efforts, Maddie couldn't move or talk or even scream, which she really, really wanted to do. Instead she was frozen in place, completely immobile and powerless to do anything except watch as hundreds of blurry faces flew by in front of her, kind of like a Muggle movie going super-fast in reverse.

Then, almost as soon as the show had begun, it was over. Everything slowed to a standstill, and when Maddie tried to move, the only thing stopping her was a strange weight on her stomach.

"No," the weight said. "Fuck no." It clambered off of her, and then a revealing spell was muttered, and a somewhat familiar Slytherin appeared out of nowhere. There was a long chain around her neck, with a broken hourglass dangling off of it. Frantically, the dark-haired Slytherin grabbed at the shattered doodad and lifted it closer to her face, looking at the thing every which way, her expression darkening more and more as she continued to examine it.

"Er," Maddie said articulately. They hadn't seemed to have moved, but the little broken hourglass the girl was holding looked an awful lot like a time turner, and the frantic gleam in the Slytherin's eye very much appeared to be panic, so Maddie was ready to bet a year's supply of Wolfsbane that the corridor she was standing in and the one she'd only just left were by no means identical. "That isn't… I really hope that isn't a time turner you've got there."

Apparently speaking was a bad move, because the girl whirled around in a tornado of silky brown hair and flowing robes. In a move so fluid that Maddie couldn't help but be just a wee bit envious, the Slytherin had her pinned back against a wall, wand to her throat, and furious eyes burning only inches away from her own.

"You filthy, stupid little half-breed _creep_! Do you have any idea what you've done!" she shrieked.

That's when Maddie recognized her. Azaria Warrington. She was a sixth year, and if Maddie remembered right, the daughter of the Head of the Department of Mysteries- a man who was speculated to have pumped ridiculous amounts of money into Voldemort's cause without ever getting directly involved. If she was stuck back in who knows what year, well... Azaria Warrington probably wasn't the first person she would've chosen to accompany her.

"Not exactly," said Maddie slowly, "but maybe if you'd care to enlighten me..." Azaria grit her teeth and reared her wand back threateningly. Maddie held her breath, sure that the other girl was going to hit her with a nasty hex, but then, thank Merlin, footsteps echoed across the smooth stone floor.

Azaria quickly stepped away from Maddie and shoved the broken time turner beneath her robes and out of sight. Just as the hourglass was hidden, a tall, daunting figure turned the corner and came to a stop in front of the two girls. Maddie stiffened at the sight of another Slytherin. The boy was huge- over six feet tall, easily- and something about his posture made him seem even bigger. He was handsome as well, with gorgeous cheekbones, thick brown hair, and piercing eyes the color of midnight. A badge that read 'Head Boy' rested neatly on his chest.

Maddie cursed under her breath. Excess Slytherins always tended to be dreadful things, and this guy looked to be the type who'd be perfect friends with Azaria; both were unmistakably good-looking, and as the boy was a Slytherin, Maddie figured he'd also be exceptionally cruel. She wrapped her fingers tightly around her wand, planning to draw it the second she needed the thing, but then, to her absolute shock, the boy looked at the both of them in concerned confusion, without a trace of malice on his face.

"I thought I heard something down here," he said slowly. "Are you two… okay?" His eyes lingered on Maddie when he asked the question, and she bristled defensively. Generally, wizards didn't have scars; they could all be spelled away, so it was natural to assume that the thin cuts scattered across her face and neck were recent injuries.

"We're fine," Azaria said before Maddie had a chance to speak. "It's just…"

"Are those Slytherin robes?" the boy cut in. He frowned, then looked at Maddie and said, "And Gryffindor? I'm afraid I don't recognize either of you. What's going on?"

Azaria exhaled sharply and looked back and forth between Maddie and herself for a long second. Then, forcing a smile and looking at Maddie with something like sisterly fondness, she sweetly said, "We do apologize... It's… we've only just finished meeting with Uncle Albus. See, we're to go to school here now, and we've already been sorted and everything, but… Maddie, my... dear older sister, was trying to help me find my common room, and we kind of got… well, lost, quite frankly."

Maddie had absolutely no idea what was going on, but she figured this was a pretty important ruse if Azaria was pretending to be related to a Mudblood werewolf, of all things.

"Uncle Albus?" the Head Boy asked. He frowned and looked between the two of them suspiciously. "You are Albus Dumbledore's nieces?"

_Albus Dumbledore? As in _thee _Albus Dumbledore? _

Maddie blanched. How far back _were _they? And why did it seem as though Azaria knew exactly what to say? She hadn't been planning to skedaddle all the way back to who knows when… had she?

"Obviously," said Azaria dryly. "Now, if you would please show me where I can find the Slytherin common room, I would be much obliged-"

"I'm afraid I can't do that," said the Slytherin boy. He was staring straight at Azaria, frowning just slightly. "With the threat of Grindelwald hanging over us so strongly, it would be irresponsible of me not to confirm your identities. Allowing just anyone into the common rooms would be dangerous, as I'm sure you understand."

"Fine. But if you insist upon disturbing someone, it best be our uncle," said Azaria. "He's already awake, and I doubt the headmaster would appreciate being roused in the middle of the night for something so useless as this."

The Head Boy looked as though he wished to argue, but after a moment he inclined his head and said, "Very well then. If you would follow me, ladies."

They began heading off in some random direction- Maddie was so turned around that she had no idea where in the hell they were at- and the Head Boy very politely said, "I'm Tom Riddle, Hogwarts's Head Boy. What are your names?"

Maddie choked on her next breath, tried to inhale, and wound up choking again. Azaria elbowed her sharply in the side, and Maddie quickly jumped to apologize. "Sorry, Tom. I just swallowed a rather large dust particle and it kind of got stuck in my throat. I'm Madeline, by the way, but everybody calls me Maddie. It's a… it's _really_ a pleasure to meet you."

Tom- the future _Lord Voldemort_- smiled at her warmly- although it looked like his face seemed about ready to twitch from the effort- and said, "The pleasure is all mine, Madeline." _Madeline? The bastard really is evil._ His eyes went back to Azaria, and he politely inquired, "And your name?"

"Azaria," she said. "Azaria Dumbledore. And I do apologize for my sister's odd behavior. Our father is a goat farmer, and she turned out rather simplistic because of it."

Maddie growled. She couldn't help it. It was dangerously close to her time of the month, she felt like absolute crap, and she was seventy years back in time, strolling with a future dark lord and an evil Slytherin bitch. If the tenuous grasp she had on her control happened to slip just a tiny bit, well… said evil bitch best be thankful it hadn't slipped a few degrees further.

"_Madeline!_" Azaria hissed.

Maddie shrugged unapologetically.

"Dust particle… still stuck in my throat," she said dryly. "It's a nasty little bugger." Azaria looked mortified- she probably had a crush on Mister Doom and Gloom or something- and Maddie decided to take pity on her and said to Tom, "I do apologize. Dear Azaria has worked extremely hard to people-train me, but I haven't quite gotten the hang of it yet. You know, with me being _simplistic _and all."

A small smirk stretched across the Head Boy's face, and his eyes shone with amusement. Not genuine amusement, of course, but rather the extremely misplaced kind that adults sometimes get when little kids start spouting dirty words.

"I've always found a biting wit to be one of the more endearing qualities found in Slytherins," Tom said. "How did someone who displays the trait so charmingly find herself in Gryffindor?"

"I'm afraid a 'biting wit' is my only Slytherin trait, and I'm half-convinced you've only imagined I possess _that_," said Maddie. "The Hat put me in Gryffindor the instant it touched my head. I really don't think I belong anywhere else."

"Interesting."

"Why?"

Tom looked at her strangely.

"Pardon?"

"I mean," said Maddie, who really wished that she was able to fit her foot in her mouth, "that I don't see why me being in Gryffindor would be all that interesting. My uncle was in Gryffindor, and… I don't think I've done anything that marks me as ill-suited for the house. I just don't see why you would say 'interesting', because it's really not." She thought of something and plowed forward. "Unless you really don't care and you just said it was interesting because you didn't want to say that you don't give a hoot, in which case I'd much rather you have just said that it isn't interesting at all and lead the conversation in a direction you would find more suitable."

Tom pursed his lips. "After that very _Gryffindor _response, I retract my last comment. I no longer find the Hat's decision interesting in the least. Now, as much as I regret having to bring this very-" He looked straight at Maddie and went on, "-_interesting _conversation to a close, we have arrived at Professor Dumbledore's private quarters."

"Right then," said Maddie. She looked at Azaria, mentally thinking something along the lines of, _Now that we're here, how in Merlin's name are we going to explain things to Lord Voldemort when Dumbledore doesn't have a clue as to who we are? _

Azaria, ever the friendly lass, glowered coldly and looked away.

Figuring that it was better now than never, Maddie reached out, pounded on the door, and cried, "Uncle Albus! Tom thinks we're Grindelwald's spies!"

"I never implied such a thing," said Tom politely. "I am merely taking a very necessary precaution."

"She's always been overdramatic," Azaria muttered.

With that, the door opened to reveal a tall, bearded wizard with long auburn hair and sparkling blue eyes. Although he was younger than the picture hanging in McGonagall's office, Maddie still easily recognized Albus Dumbledore as the kindly portrait who always offered her lemon-drops whenever she visited the headmistress for her Wolfsbane potion.

"Hello, Uncle Albus," Azaria said lightly. Smilingly, she went on, "I'm afraid Maddie and I got lost trying to find our common rooms, and your Head Boy stumbled across us, so… here we are."

If Dumbledore was surprised by any of this, he didn't show it at all.

"I do apologize, Professor, as it now seems that my suspicions were unfounded, but you must understand my distrust of the situation."

"Of course, Tom. It is quite odd for two students to arrive out of nowhere one month into the school year, but my dear nieces came here under very unique circumstances, I must assure you. Now, I do thank you for your prudence in coming to me, but I believe I can take things from here."

"I will escort Miss Azaria to her common room if you wish," Tom said charmingly.

"No, that is quite alright. I was only just going to call the girls back to my office when you showed up; there are certain important matters I forgot to discuss with them earlier, and I'm afraid I must do so now, despite the late hour." He peered at Tom with some suspicion in his eyes, but then gestured nonchalantly down the hall and said, "You may leave us now, but… ten points to Slytherin for your aid. I will see you tomorrow, Tom."

He inclined his head politely and said, "Thank you, Professor."

Then the future Lord Voldemort ambled out of sight, disappearing down the dark corridor.

As soon as he was gone, Dumbledore looked down at the girls for a very long time before he said, "Now, I do believe the two of you have no small amount of explaining to do."

...

**A/N- **

**Alright then, that's the first chapter. I already have a general idea of what's going to happen, but this is all I have written so far. I think I'm going to wait and see what people think of the story before I write much more, so your feedback is super important as to whether or not I continue this. Please tell me what you think!**

**~bballgirl32~**


	3. Playing With Snakes

Ch.2: Playing With Snakes

...

"So you see, Professor, I am here on a _super _important mission for the ministry, and I was supposed to be coming with someone just as qualified, but then Madeline here ran into me, and now… I'm back with her, I suppose," Azaria concluded, ending a long-winded story that Maddie had only half listened to. From what the Gryffindor could tell, Azaria claimed that her father, the Head of the Department of Mysteries, had sent her back in time on a 'top secret mission' that not even Dumbledore was to know about.

Maddie didn't believe a word of what the other girl was saying, but thankfully it didn't seem much like Dumbledore did either. His face was tight and his eyes were narrowed suspiciously. It was clear that he doubted the Slytherin's words- probably because she _was_ a Slytherin- but didn't have any way to actually refute what she was saying.

After an extremely long pause, Dumbledore sighed and skeptically said, "I suppose the Ministry also decided that I was to be your uncle."

"Yes," Azaria replied.

"May I please hear your cover story in more detail?"

Azaria nodded.

"Your brother had two children that you were not aware of. In our time, it's rather common knowledge that the two of you haven't gotten on for years, so it would only be natural for you not to know. It'd also make sense that Aberforth would homeschool those children rather than send them to Hogwarts. However, if the Ministry's sources are correct, Aberforth was forced into hiding two days ago. Having two daughters on the run is somewhat dangerous, so he sent them to live at Hogwarts for their own protection."

Dumbledore pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger, closing his eyes and exhaling sharply. He looked extremely stressed, and Maddie knew that he was having a hard time deciding what to do.

Finally his shoulders hunched just slightly, and he looked up, a decision evidently made. A beat passed where all was silent, and then the Transfiguration professor heavily said, "Very well then. I suppose I cannot turn you out, and though it pains me to allow students with whom I am not familiar into the school at a time such as this, there seems to be no humane alternative. Madeline, Azaria, you will begin classes tomorrow. Because Mister Riddle has already seen you in those robes, you shall stay in your current houses. Now, what year are the two of you?"

"I'm a seventh, and she's a sixth," Maddie said.

"Okay. I will tell Dippet about the arrival of my two nieces immediately. Your timetables should be prepared by tomorrow morning, and your trunks ready by then as well.

"As I'm sure you understand, you are not to tell anyone of your true identities, nor are you to reveal any information about the future. You are to make as small an impact as you possibly can, and, in the meantime, I will do my best to find a way to return you to your own time."

"Thank you so much, Professor," said Azaria. Her voice was too sweet, and Maddie knew she didn't mean it. "We really appreciate your kindness."

"See that you don't take advantage of it," said Dumbledore warningly, eyes fixed on the Slytherin. "Now I'm sure you know where to find your common rooms. Good night, and I shall see you tomorrow."

Azaria left without another word, but Maddie hesitated. Her attention was fixed on the nearly full moon outside, and her hands clenched into fists at the sight of it, nails digging into her skin as she felt the ache in her stomach grow worse at the presence of the glowing silver orb. She had to tell Dumbledore her secret… he needed to know, but…

There was no Wolfsbane in this time, so what difference would it make? Werewolf rights were almost nonexistent so far in the past, at least from what Maddie knew, and she wasn't even sure if she'd be allowed to stay at the school if she told him what she really was. What if he kicked her out?

No. She wouldn't, couldn't tell him. She'd find someplace to hide tomorrow, and then brew her own Wolfsbane for the next month.

"Do you need something, Madeline?"

Maddie tore her eyes away from the moon and shook her head.

"No, Professor. I don't."

Then she hurried away before he could tell she was lying.

…

"Who is she?"

"She looks like hell."

"Look, there's a trunk."

"It says Madeline Dumbledore. _Dumbledore_. Do you think they're related?"

"She has red hair like he does."

"I really think we should wake her up."

"But look how _pale _she is! I think she's ill. Perhaps we should leave her be."

Maddie peeled her eyes open slowly, willing the too-loud voices to shut up. It didn't take long for everything to come flooding back to her. Running into Azaria Warrington. Going back in time. Chatting with Lord Voldemort. Now she was supposed to start classes today… when she could feel that the full moon was fast-approaching.

How wonderful.

"She's awake!" cried one girl. Maddie groaned and rubbed at her eyes with the back of her hands.

"Yeah," Maddie muttered. She forced herself into a sitting position and stretched muscles that were already aching with the feel of her impending change. "I'm awake." She yawned and noticed that her roommates were all dressed and ready. "And it looks like I'm late. Er… what time is it?"

"Almost seven," said a small brown-haired girl. "Classes don't start until eight, so you'll have plenty of time for breakfast. I mean… if you want to go. You look rather ill."

Maddie smiled humorlessly. "I'll survive. I'm just a bit tired from my journey. Oh, I'm Maddie Dumbledore, by the way, but... I guess you all know that."

The girls all looked relieved that she wasn't dead, which Maddie could understand perfectly. She knew she started to look like death itself during the end of her cycle.

"I'm Erica Brown," said the brown-haired girl. The other two girls introduced themselves as Sarah Patil and Julia Henderson.

"Nice to meet you," said Maddie politely. She then cautiously swung her legs over the side of her bed, making a face when they protested at the movement. Maybe it'd be best just to skip classes. She'd hardly gotten any sleep the night before, and really, if Tom Riddle was Head Boy, that meant he was in her year, and Maddie really didn't want to sit in class all day with a teenaged Voldemort. Even if Voldy was supposedly a priggish teacher's pet back in his Hogwarts days (or at least according to Professor Binns he was), she wasn't at all eager to be in the same room as a guy who was hankering to exterminate her race. It was terrifying and stressful, and just plain wrong.

"Are you sure you're okay?" asked Sarah.

Maddie shook her head and scrounged up a smile. Really, she did need to go to classes today. She sure as hell wasn't going to be able to the next, not after the full moon, and missing her first two days at Hogwarts would only draw unwanted attention.

Might as well get the worst of it out of the way.

"Of course," Maddie said. "I'm fine."

Tired and achy and really wishing for something to dull the pain, Maddie shoved herself into the first clothes she grabbed out of her trunk, and then she followed her roommates down to the Great Hall, listening to them babble about people she didn't know. Erica and Julia dominated the conversation, chattering about classes and Erica's boyfriend, and then they got going on about cute guys and Maddie was just about ready to make a run for it when Julia said, "Although you have to admit that Riddle is the cutest guy in the school, no contest."

Erica giggled and opened her mouth to reply, but Maddie cut her off by blurting, "That's disgusting!" When both girls looked at her in confusion, she hurriedly said, "I mean, that's the Head Boy, right? Because he helped my sister and I last night, and he was a no-good loser ponce if I ever saw one. A Slytherin, too."

"Oh, he's just sweet," Julia said hurriedly, while both Sarah and Erica looked at her in absolute shock. "He isn't so bad when you get used to him. Really, I've never seen Riddle act like a Slytherin at all."

"But he _does_," Maddie insisted a little too loudly. "He just hides it real well. I swear, he looked at me like I was an idiot whenever I opened my mouth last night. Not like you guys are doing now- that I'm used to- but like he'd like to hex my tongue out permanently."

Erica and Julia both laughed.

"No offense, Madeline-"

"_Maddie_."

"-but I think you might be a little bit off your rocker. Riddle isn't like that."

"Well, I happen to think him a right bastard. He was full of himself. Any halfwit could see it." Maddie nodded importantly, but the girls both just laughed. Sarah looked like she wanted to say something, but they got to the Great Hall before she got the chance. Maddie sighed loudly. Apparently Justin White's History of Magic notes were right, saying Voldemort was popular back in school. Not like she could blame the girls for sticking up for him. He was a right masterpiece, Tom was. A condescending, soulless git, but a real Adonis if she ever saw one.

"Anyway," said Erica as they stepped into the Great Hall, "this is the Great Hall."

"_Really_?" asked Maddie. _And here I thought it was the potions classroom._ Sarah snorted behind them.

"Uh-huh. And those are the House tables. Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Slytherin… hey, who's that girl sitting at the end of Slytherin table? I don't think I recognize her."

Maddie craned her neck, but she already knew who she was going to see. Scrunching her nose up into an ugly expression, she explained, "That's my baby sister."

"She looks taller than you," said Erica.

"Growing spells. She was an insecure child."

"You two look nothing alike."

"Yeah, well. Mum was a bit loose. Thought my dad was nothing more than a simplistic goat farmer, so she ran off and threw herself at random Muggle street-urchins. The pinch-faced bastard probably belongs to one of them."

The three girls all gaped, and Maddie shrugged lightly and left them behind as she went on to the Gryffindor table, waving sweetly at Azaria as she passed her. The Slytherin didn't so much as look up from her toast.

_And that's why I don't feel guilty about making her the illegitimate daughter of a Muggle street-urchin_, Maddie thought as she plopped down next to a gangly boy with long red hair. She grabbed a roll and started nibbling the edges, not hungry enough to eat much else.

"You must be Madeline Dumbledore."

Maddie glanced at the boy in surprise.

"And you must be a seer."

He laughed. "I'm afraid not. Headmaster Dippet made the announcement just before you got here. He even made your sister come to the front of the room and introduce herself. She looked about ready to kill him."

"Yes, well, Azaria is quite the charmer," Maddie said lightly. She took a sip of pumpkin juice.

"I'm Ignatius Prewett, by the way," said the boy. "And… I think your friends just ditched you."

Maddie followed his gaze to see that the girls she'd walked in with were all seated at the other end of the table. Erica was snuggling close to a brawny blond boy, and Julia was sitting next to them. Sarah was at least three places away from anyone else, her dainty little nose buried in a thick book.

"Eh, I wouldn't call them my friends quite yet," said Maddie indifferently. "Or ever. I believe they think I'm strange."

"You wouldn't be related to Dumbledore if you weren't," said Ignatius, but jokingly. "Don't worry. I'll introduce you to some of my friends later. They've already left for class, but I'm sure they'll appreciate any strangeness on your part. Anyway, I'm sure you've got nothing on Charlus-"

"May I please cut in?"

Maddie turned to see Dumbledore standing behind her, holding a piece of paper in a thin hand.

"Of course... Uncle Albus... Professor Dumbledore, er... sir…" Maddie trailed off awkwardly. "Uh… I don't know what I'm supposed to call you now that you're my teacher and all."

"Uncle Albus is fine outside of class," Dumbledore said, blue eyes twinkling with mirth. "Just be sure you address me like everyone else when you're in Transfiguration."

Maddie smiled. "Alright then, Uncle Albus. And I suppose that's my timetable you've got right there."

"Yes. You have until the end of the week to change it should you find any problems with your classes, but I think everything will be to your liking." He patted her on the head and smiled affectionately. "Good luck on your first day. I'll see you in class this afternoon."

"I can't wait," said Maddie honestly. She then began examining the paper that Dumbledore had given her. "Ew… potions first, and no one likes that. Then Care of Magical Creatures… History of Magic, break, lunch, Transfiguration, and... Arithimancy." Her eyes boggled. "What in the bloody hell is that old coot thinking, putting me in _Arithimancy_?!"

"You gonna be okay, Mads?" asked Ignatius. Maddie blinked at the nickname and glanced at him.

"No, I'm not. I can't possibly take Arithimancy. I'll fail."

"I'm pretty good at that class. I can help you if you need it."

Maddie glanced at him. "Or I could just drop it."

"I'll make it worth your while, I promise-"

"I apologize for cutting in," a smooth voice interrupted, "but I was told to escort Madeline to potions this morning."

Maddie's mouth snapped shut, and she slowly craned her neck to see Tom towering over them. He really was mammoth. Not in the big or beefy way- actually, he would almost qualify as skinny- but he was so _tall_. He could probably play quidditch without a broom. Maddie just couldn't get over it.

"I can take her," Ignatius said.

"Yeah," Maddie agreed. "Ignatius can take me."

"That really is unnecessary," said the spawn of Satan. He sounded so sweet, so polite, so believable. It was disturbing. "He doesn't have potions, and I wouldn't want him to needlessly show up late for his class."

"But-" started Maddie. Ignatius only smiled and waved off her protest.

"It's alright. Riddle's a good guy," he told her. "Go on. I'll see you in Care of Magical Creatures."

Maddie had to bite her tongue to keep from calling Ignatius every nasty name she could think of. Rather, she graciously accepted Tom's hand when he offered to help her up, and kept as silent as possible as he led her out of the Great Hall. Maddie could feel the eyes on them as they left, everyone staring at the strange new student and the unfortunately handsome Head Boy. It was almost a relief when they finally exited into the corridor.

At least until Tom casually said, "I heard you talking about me this morning."

Maddie cringed.

"Oh. You aren't mad, are you?"

"Not especially," said Tom. He didn't _look _mad, and there were enough witnesses mulling about... Maddie relaxed. She obviously hadn't made his hit list quite yet.

"Good," she said. "Although I am sorry that you heard me call you a loser ponce."

"You're sorry that I heard you," said Tom dryly, "but not sorry that you said it?"

"I'll apologize for saying it as soon as you quit looking at me like I'm a six-year-old," said Maddie.

"I do not look at you like you're a six-year-old."

"I'm a Dumbledore, remember." She smiled wolfishly. "The family isn't really known for being imperceptive. It's quite obvious that you think I'm an idiot, Tom."

Tom shook his head. "I don't think you're an idiot. I think you're ridiculous." He seemed to consider something and added, "And your insistence upon calling someone you so clearly dislike by their first name is odd. Almost everyone calls me Riddle."

"Calling someone by their last name puts you at a distance before you even know them. I think it's easier to make enemies when you do that."

"You seem rather intent on making me into an enemy right now."

Maddie rolled her eyes and absently patted Tom on the forearm, ignoring the way he flinched away when she did so.

"I'm going to take a stab in the dark and say you'd be a dreadful enemy to have, especially when half the school seems to be in love with you." Tom looked skeptical, and she added, "Really, I'm not trying to get on your bad side, I swear. I can just be stupidly blunt sometimes. If you'd like me to, I can _try _to censor myself."

"It would only be polite."

"I didn't peg you as the type to care about such trivialities, but very well then. I'm sincerely sorry that I hurt your feelings when I called you a loser ponce, my eyes don't work properly so I'm totally missing the fact that you're smirking like an arse right now, and you were obviously just hinting that I should call you Riddle, so I'll make sure to do that from now on."

Tom snorted.

"I regret saying anything about you belonging in Slytherin yesterday. Only a Gryffindor would be so utterly tactless."

Maddie laughed out loud.

"I'm usually a little better than this," she said honestly. "But I have a condition that makes me nearly unbearable to be around a few days every month, and it's hitting me especially hard today. Forgive me, please." They reached the potions classroom then, and Maddie enthusiastically added, "And we're here! Bye."

Her upcoming change had improved Maddie's hearing just enough that she didn't miss it when Tom muttered, "...just as mad as her foolish uncle."

Maddie allowed herself a small smile. As long as Tom didn't see her as a threat, he wouldn't cause her any harm. Given that she'd probably quit speaking to him entirely as soon as he got his Good Samaritan act out of the way, she didn't see the need to censor herself too strongly around him anyway.

Besides, it was kind of amusing, watching Tom struggle to keep his temper in check.

Looking back over her shoulder, Maddie noticed the Head Boy was still looking at her, his eyes narrowed dangerously.

A shiver ran down her spine, and she swallowed hard.

Okay, maybe it would do her good to be more careful.

But only a little.

...

**A/N- Okay, I got a few reviews saying that they want to read more of this, so I'll keep it going for at least a little while and see where it goes. As always, any criticism or critiquing is much appreciated, and thank you all so much for reading and reviewing. **

**Thanks to: mh21- **I'm working on my Marvel story again finally. I've got half a chapter written so far, and even though I'm a little stuck, I'll do my best to get it out ASAP. Thanks for reviewing this, though. **Ara95- **I'm glad you liked P&P so much, and I hope this lives up to your expectations. **Iluvyou95- **Thanks for reviewing. I'm glad you seem to like the story so far. **Amanda- **Thanks for the review. **Wishing on Fireflies- **I hope this will be even a fraction as popular as P&P. Thanks so much for the reviews. **Misses Prongs- **Thanks for reviewing. :-) If there's anything you're really confused about, just ask in a review and I'll try to clear it up. **Ashes- **I'm glad you like Maddie so much. Hopefully you liked the Maddie/Tom interaction in this chapter as much as you liked it before. **Colette Hyuga- **Dumbledore is one of a kind, isn't he? And as for Azaria and Maddie becoming friends, you'll just have to wait and see.

**I really don't have much else to say since it's so early in the story... If there's anything that sticks out as being a huge problem, or something that you don't like, please let me know. Other than that, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and any reviews are much appreciated. **

**~bballgirl32~**


	4. Odd Conversations

Ch. 3: Odd Conversations

...

"It won't be so bad."

Maddie glanced at Ignatius as they neared the Arithimancy classroom. She was adamant about not taking Arithimancy, but Ignatius was insistent upon dragging her to class with him. Apparently Julia was the only other Gryffindor taking it, and the two of them didn't get on well at all.

"Oh, but it will be. I'll have you know that my homeschooling curriculum had nothing to do with Arithimancy, so I'm ages behind, and I shouldn't be here, and it's a class for geniuses anyway, so-"

"Bloody hell, Mads, you aren't an idiot. You did awesome in Care of Magical Creatures."

"But that's the only class I'm good at," said Maddie. It was true; she'd gotten an O in it seventy years in the future, and the curriculum was a lot easier in 1944. By the time class had let out that morning, she was answering questions as quickly as Professor Kettleburn could ask them, and the (extremely) frightening teacher had taken such a liking to her that she swore his lips curved into something _almost _like a smile as she walked away. "Besides, Arithimancy is nothing like Care of Magical Creatures; it's all brain stuff, and given that I have no brain-"

"You wouldn't be able to breathe without a brain."

"There's an invisible pixie that hovers near my ear and tells me when to inhale and exhale." They reached the Arithimancy classroom, and she screeched to a halt. "And now the pixie is telling me to run the other way if I value my life or sanity-"

Ignatius ignored her and stepped through the door, and Maddie sighed and followed after him. She really was coming down with a dreadful headache, and it was a terrible time for her to have to deal with something such as Arithimancy, what with her not getting much sleep the night before and then her furry little problem acting up so terribly on top of that.

"Fine, but if I die…"

"I promise I'll pay for the flowers," Ignatius said. He then took a seat at one of the many tables scattered across the classroom. Maddie moved to follow, but a gentle tap on her shoulder stopped her.

"Miss Dumbledore?"

Maddie turned to see that a smiling young woman was standing behind her. Glistening black hair fell in curls down her back, and her dark eyes glittered with warmth. Maddie liked her immediately. "I'm Professor Clearwater. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"A pleasure to meet you, too," said Maddie.

"I'm afraid," Professor Clearwater went on, "that we just started a partner-activity, and Mister Prewett is already paired with Miss Henderson-"

"I was hoping I could work with Maddie instead, since we really haven't started anything quite yet," Ignatius cut in.

"You've already selected your project," Professor Clearwater reminded him. "However, Miss Dumbledore, there was one student who was left without a partner. I'm sure you've met our Head Boy, Tom Riddle."

For the first time, Maddie noticed a head of immaculate dark hair sitting near the back of the classroom.

Tom smirked.

Maddie barred her teeth.

Screw Ignatius.

"Actually," Maddie said quickly, forcing a smile, "I just wanted to tell you that I know much too little about Arithimancy to possibly take the class at such a high level; my uncle was woefully misinformed regarding my abilities pertaining to the subject, and I think it best that I take something such as Muggle Studies instead. If you don't mind, I'm going to go talk to Uncle Al about getting my schedule switched up…"

Maddie rushed off to the sound of Professor Clearwater chuckling behind her.

"Such an odd girl," she heard her say. "Just like her uncle."

"I didn't do anything, did I?" asked Tom innocently.

Maddie growled to herself the whole way to Dumbledore's office.

…

"This is Charlus Potter."

Maddie opened her eyes to see Ignatius hovering in front of the sofa she'd taken over for a short after-class nap. Behind him stood a strangely familiar boy with shaggy black hair and hazel eyes.

It took a second for the surname to register, and another for her to realize why the boy appeared to be so familiar. Then the light bulb flickered on, and Maddie nearly went into shock. She hadn't ever seen Harry Potter in person- not except at the speeches he made at the memorial services Hogwarts held each May- but she _had _seen pictures, and other than the absence of glasses and the fact that this boy's eyes weren't green, well… Charlus Potter looked _exactly _like him.

It was shocking, and although Maddie vaguely registered that she should perhaps say something, she was too busy going star-struck over a boy who was almost certainly Harry Potter's grandfather.

"Oi! Mads!" Ignatius said, and Maddie shook her head sharply to clear it.

Forcing an awkward smile, she looked at the Harry Potter look-alike and said, "Er, nice to meet you. Sorry about the terribly awkward staring… I've been homeschooled my whole life, and I'm still learning people skills."

Ignatius laughed. "See, Charlus? I told you she's charming."

Charlus pursed his lips as though he weren't entirely convinced, and after a long moment, he asked, "I think I heard Julia talking about you. You're the one who called Riddle all sorts of nasty things, right?"

"Well, er. Yeah, kind of. Not to his face, mind you… although that hardly matters, since the eavesdropping git heard me anyway." She ducked her head, worried that Charlus was going to snap at her for going after Tom- everyone at the school seemed to think him some kind of God, so she'd hardly be surprised- but, to her shock, his lips split into a wide grin.

"Brilliant," said Charlus. "If you aren't head-over-heels for Riddle yet, then you're an introduction away from being my new best friend." He glanced at Ignatius. "No offense, mate."

Ignatius rolled his eyes. "None taken."

"Anyway, I'm Charlus Potter, and you're quite obviously Madeline Dumbledore- though I've been told on good authority to call you Maddie- so there's that introduction I mentioned, and I suppose we can now get around to making those shiny friendship bracelets and the like."

"Don't run away, please," said Ignatius to Maddie. "He's not as mad as you'd think."

Maddie frowned. "How disappointing. I thought he was quite delightful."

If possible, Charlus's grin got bigger.

"Perfect, Ignatius. She's bloody perfect." He glanced at Maddie. "You don't happen to like Exploding Snap, do you?"

Maddie grinned toothily.

They played until the sun began to descend, and Maddie was forced to make up a lie about a meeting with Dippet. Her upcoming change not entirely able to kill her good mood, it was with a smile in her heart that Maddie slipped into the darkness of the Forbidden Forest.

…

She spent the next day in the hospital wing, supposedly recovering from a nasty bout of the flu. The matron had taken one look at her that morning and wasted no time in administering a host of strength-replenishing potions and all but forcing Maddie into bed. The entire day was spent resting and stuffing herself with potions, and by the time evening rolled around, Madam Churchill decided that Maddie was well enough to return to Gryffindor Tower.

One more pepper-up potion was provided, and then the Matron sent Maddie on her way, conspiratorially dropping a hint as to how she could sneak into the kitchens and grab a bite to eat if she wished to make up the meals she'd missed. Maddie thanked her as she made her way out of the hospital wing, smiling broadly and feeling rather good about the situation as a whole.

She'd gotten through the first full moon, or at least it appeared so, and now she was finished for another thirty days, by which time, if all went well, she'd be well on her way back to 2018.

The knowledge that she could push her secret to the back of her mind for a short time put a spring in her step, and even though she was still rather tired and achy, Maddie all but skipped the entire way to the kitchens, whistling to herself as she did so.

Said whistling stopped as soon as she slipped through the portrait of the pear. Sitting innocently at a large table was Tom Riddle in all his much too good-looking glory. Maddie froze in place and her smile faltered at the sight of him.

"Is my presence really perturbing enough to garner such a reaction?" asked Tom.

Maddie pretended to think it over.

"I suppose not. Really, you've been quite nice to me since I've gotten here, apart from the whole condescending, 'I'm smarter and better than you' thing that you seem to have going for you. I'm just less apt to whistle for an audience."

Tom apparently didn't wish to dignify that with a response. Instead, he watched with critical eyes as Maddie politely asked a house elf for a sandwich and plopped into the seat next to his own. Maddie waited about two seconds for something to come out of his mouth, then, deciding the silence had gone on long enough, asked, "How were classes today?"

"Enlightening."

"Wish I could've been there."

"I'm assuming you were ill?"

"Yup. Thankfully Madam Churchill fixed me right up."

"I'm glad to hear it."

A house elf came then, and deposited an enormous sandwich on the table in front of Maddie. She thanked the elf friendlily before picking up the sandwich and taking as big a bite of it as possible. When she glanced up, Tom was frowning at her. She assumed he didn't appreciate her lack of table manners.

Maddie swallowed her bite of sandwich.

"I had a friend once-"

"Shocking."

She ignored him.

"-who told me my patronus should be a pig."

"I wouldn't be entirely surprised if it were," said Riddle.

"I managed to cast one last year," Maddie said, not mentioning that it was too weak to so much as withstand the boggart they'd been practicing on in class. "It was a platypus. Not a pig."

"Your patronus was a platypus?" Tom asked dryly. He was smirking, and his eyes were shining with that look of condescending amusement that she was already starting to grow used to.

Maddie took a big bite off her sandwich. "Don't judge. They're supposedly violent. And venomous."

His amusement increased. "They are also, without a doubt, unquestionably the oddest creatures in existence. Funny, how well a patronus reflects the person who conjures it."

Maddie wanted to ask Tom what his patronus was, but she wasn't so certain he had one. It was doubtful that one of the darkest wizards of all time would be able to make use of the purest kind of magic there was, so instead of cracking a joke about how his patronus was probably a worm or something equally degrading, she laughed as his comment.

"I do believe that's the most impolite thing you've said since I've met you. I'm shocked, even keeping in mind that our first meeting was all of two days ago. Odd, you say?"

"Don't act so offended; you revel in being… unique."

"I usually do. Just not when it's accompanied by an expression that clearly says you think uniqueness is a disease of some sort. I don't care how much you deny it. You're clearly under the assumption that you're leagues smarter than everyone else, and that I'm the biggest idiot in the school. It's maddening."

"I'm afraid that I still have no idea what you're talking about. I would never think such things."

"You wouldn't be in Slytherin if you were all milk and cookies."

He very clearly gave her a look that said, 'And you wonder why I think you're an idiot?'

She supposed that last statement could've been a bit more sophisticated.

"There are good Slytherins, as much as I'm sure you've heard otherwise."

"My dear sister is in Slytherin," said Maddie, even though she didn't think Azaria was very dear at all. "So I very well know that not all Slytherins are bad. You just happen to be one of the not so good ones."

"Which is a conclusion entirely based on the fact that I look at you oddly? Didn't you just defend the merits of oddity?"

"It isn't that you look at me oddly. People look at me oddly all the time. It's that you tend to get this expression on your face, kind of like you're a king and I'm a drooling little peon, and it's insulting, quite frankly."

Tom stared at her for a long moment, and Maddie returned her attention to her sandwich, munching on it to give her something to focus on other than those midnight eyes that saw way too much. Though she supposed it was her fault he looked at her like that; she was probably, stupidly, encouraging him to look more closely than he would if she pretended to fall for his act like everyone else. She couldn't help it, though; he was such a ponce that the thought of playing dumb for him chafed every Gryffindor moral she possessed. She physically _couldn't _let a snake walk all over her. Especially not one like Tom Riddle.

"You have a very active imagination, Madeline," said Tom finally.

"Must you call me that? I remember very clearly that I specified 'Maddie' when I introduced myself."

"I disprove of diminutives, especially ones so inelegant as 'Maddie'. Your real name is fine; I fail to see why you seem to dislike it."

"It's three syllables. That's too many." She peered at him. "And you don't like diminutives? Would you quit looking at me like an idiot if I took to calling you Thomas?"

"My name is Tom. Not Thomas."

"How odd. Odd like having a platypus for a patronus, I mean. Not bad odd... Although I suppose I _could_ still call you Thomas, if it'd make you feel better about yourself."

Tom peered at her for a long moment, then shook his head.

"I'm afraid that I generally am not the most talkative of persons, and our conversation has stretched on for an inane amount of time."

"That's a nice non sequitur you dropped into the conversation right there."

"I was politely trying to hint that this tête-à-tête has reached the point where continuing to drag it out would be a disservice to the both of us."

"Because you're uncomfortable with the notion of someone calling you Thomas? I suppose if it's not your name, it would be quite awkward… What's your middle name? I could call you that."

"Marvolo."

_Good Merlin. No wonder the poor boy turned evil. What was his mother thinking?_

"Ew. After that, I feel just bad enough that I'll let you leave. Good night, and I look forward to seeing you in potions tomorrow... Marvolo."

Tom scowled. "Tom works quite well, thank you."

"What about Marv?"

He left without another word.

…

Maddie frowned when she entered the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom the next day. The words, 'DUELING TOURNAMENT' were scrawled across the board in messy handwriting, and Professor Merrythought, an elderly woman with what seemed to be a permanent smile, sat at her desk and beamed at her work, as though it were something to be proud of.

"Does she want me to die?" Maddie moaned.

"Of course not," said Charlus. "She wants us to have untold amounts of fun kicking some Slytherin arse. Why? Are you still sick? Or are you just dreadful at dueling?"

"I'm dreadful at dueling," said Maddie. She was still frowning at the board. There'd never been any dueling tournaments in 2018, and, as far as Maddie was concerned, that was a good thing. She wasn't a dueler, and that's all there was to it. Now, on her first day of class, the fates naturally had to toss her into the one thing she hated the most. "Not to mention that I despise it. I'd rather snog Tom Riddle than participate in a bloody dueling tournament."

"So would most of the girls here, Mads," said Ignatius. "I'm afraid that's not saying much."

Charlus slung an arm around her shoulder. "In Maddie's case, it is. She's immune to Riddle's nasty charms and fully realizes that a manipulative mind lurks behind that pretty face of his."

"Charlus-"

"It's true," said Charlus. "Any Slytherin who behaves like that is either acting or empty headed, and as much as I'd like to think the bloke doesn't have anything going on upstairs, I'm not quite _that _stupid."

Maddie laughed.

Professor Merrythought called out, "Listen! Listen! I am going to list the first round match-ups, nad I want you to get with your partner as soon as you hear your name!"

Her laughter died.

"Don't worry. If you're paired with me, I'll go easy on you," said Charlus.

"I'm not that lucky," Maddie muttered.

"…Tom and Ignatius, Gertrude and Elizabeth, Atius and Madeline…"

"Do I know an Atius?" Maddie asked Charlus quietly. The other boy was grimacing.

"I don't think you've met him yet… luckily. He's one of Riddle's friends, but not half so polite as the Master of the Constipated Smile."

Maddie had to resist the urge to let out another groan. Great. Not only did she have to duel, but the guy she was dueling was probably a junior Death Eater. How wonderful.

"Which one is he?"

Before Charlus could respond, Professor Merrythought said, "Madeline and Atius are up first. Take your places."

Maddie's question was answered when a tall Slytherin boy came into view. He definitely didn't have the abnormally large presence that Tom did, but he had to have been close to him in height. He was built like a seeker- lean and athletic- but completely lacking in grace of any kind. With extraordinarily dark, curly hair, a too-long nose, and dull brown eyes, Atius Lestrange was possessing of an intimidating but unremarkable appearance, although the smirk on his face clearly said he thought otherwise; he carried himself in a way scarily similar to the Veelas Maddie had seen at the World Cup seventy years in the future. Maddie hated to admit it, but his apparent belief in his own appeal was enough to make him almost attractive.

It was also enough to make her want nothing more than to wipe the disgusting, cocky smirk off his face.

"A Dumbledore. Should I be scared?" drawled Atius. Even his voice was obnoxious.

"Probably not," Maddie said honestly. "I've never much been one for dueling."

"Some kind of pacifist gibberish?"

"Sure," said Maddie. "Let's go with that."

"Face each other," Merrythought instructed. Maddie and Atius positioned themselves in the middle of the room, lining up directly across from each other. "Now bow."

They did, then proceeded to each take three steps backwards. With that, the duel began.

Atius hit her with a knockback jinx immediately, then lazily flicked his wand and drawled, "Tarantellegra."

Maddie's legs began moving rapidly in what would've been an awkward dance if she hadn't been sprawled across the floor. Maddie grimaced and tried firing several stunning spells in his direction, but he shielded them all nonverbally with very little effort, sauntering closer and closer to her with each deflected jinx. No doubt he wanted to be standing over her when he finished her off. His eyes were gleaming with mirth, and that stupid smirk of his had grown about a thousand fold. Maddie knew he figured this was going to be an easy victory.

Teeth gritted against spewing out something that would be nastily unhelpful, Maddie pointed her wand at her legs and muttered, "Finite incantatum." They stopped moving, but it appeared to be too late for her to do anything. Atius was standing above her, wand only inches away from her face, clearly reveling in the moment.

Then Maddie did what no pureblood wizard would expect; she completely abandoned magic. Without really considering the potential consequences of her actions, Maddie grabbed Atius's arm, pulled him down to her level and clanked her forehead against his as hard as she could. The surprised Slytherin stumbled backwards, cursing and grabbing at his nose, and Maddie brought her wand up, said, "Expelliarmus," and beamed when his wand flew into her hand.

"I win," she said, still laying on the floor.

Everyone was completely silent.

Then Atius, his nose bleeding and his face beet red, snapped, "That can't be legal! She can't possibly be given the victory… hell, that should land her in detention. This is why blood traitors shouldn't be allowed into the school, because they fight like rabid apes-"

"Enough, Mister Lestrange," Merrythought finally cut in. "No one specified that the duel had to be won using entirely magical means. You lost." She frowned at Maddie. "_However_, from this point forward, the duels _will _have to be fought with magic. The point of this tournament is to perfect the art of fighting with spells, and I'm afraid head-butting will teach you nothing."

Maddie nodded, but she was having trouble keeping the smile off her face. "But I won this one though, right?"

"Yes, Miss Dumbledore. You won this one. Now, please stand aside so that we can move on to the next duel. I would like to get through this tournament by the end of the hour."

Maddie listened, retaking her previous place between Charlus and Ignatius. Charlus immediately muttered, "You weren't wrong when you said you were a dreadful duelist."

"At least I won."

"Against one of the best in the class, too, funnily enough."

"I'll lose next round, though."

"Probably," said Ignatius, "but you beat Lestrange, so you can hardly call it a bad day."

As it turned out, she could actually call it a rather good day. Maddie did lose her next duel, but she also got to see Charlus blow everyone he faced out of the water. The championship wound up being between Charlus and Tom- Maddie almost thought it was funny, the whole Potter vs. Voldemort thing- and even though Tom won after a well-fought duel, Charlus had managed to give him green hair and a black eye, which just about made Maddie's life.

And if she'd gotten a patented Dark Lord glare when she laughed at him outright, well… Maddie was in too good of a mood to care.

…

**A/N- **

**And there's the chapter. I guess I really have nothing to say, oddly enough, but I hope you all liked it. Once again, anything you have to say it listened to and much appreciated, even if you're sure I'm doing everything wrong; I love getting helpful criticisms, so please review whether you had problems with it or absolutely loved it. **

**Also, a quick thanks to those who reviewed chapter 3: Leopard Gecko, Iluvyou95, Wishing on Fireflies, Misses Prongs, xxthethieflordxx, Benedict-Addict Holmes, xSiriuslyPadfoot, Ara95, Colette Hyuga, and brooke13243546. **


	5. An Explosive Partnership

Ch.4: An Explosive Partnership

…

In the future, Maddie had a friend.

That was it. One. Single. True. Friend.

They'd met on the Hogwarts Express their first year. His name was Justin White, and Maddie had launched herself at Drusilla Zabini when the older girl made a nasty comment about having to guard the food trolley when he was around. It hadn't been that fair of a thing to say; Justin was chubby, but not fat enough to warrant a comment like that.

Maddie and Drusilla had to be separated by the prefects, they were both given detention, and after that, she and Justin were the closest of friends; each other's only friends, because no one was particularly inclined to get too close to an obnoxiously loud Gryffindor with a penchant for losing house points, and even less eager to befriend an overweight Hufflepuff who was just awkward enough to make everyone he spoke to feel unquestionably uncomfortable.

Then Maddie went to Justin's house for the Christmas holidays. He lived in a cabin in the middle of a forest, and Justin's mother made sure to warn them not to go outside at night. She said there were centaurs and bowtruckles and blood-sucking bugbears lurking in the darkness, and that it was dangerous to go anywhere near them.

Maddie vowed took the advice religiously. At least until she saw a unicorn from her bedroom window, glistening white in the light of the full moon.

She snuck out of her room without a second thought.

The unicorn was still there when Maddie made it outside. She slowly approached the creature, and it stayed obediently still, didn't move until she was just getting close enough to pet it. Just as Maddie's hand was about to brush against its perfect white fur, the unicorn tossed his head and galloped off into the forest.

Eleven years-old and ridiculously curious, Maddie took off after it.

She hadn't been going for more than ten minutes when she heard a terrifying howl that stopped her dead in her tracks. Though not entirely helpful, Hermione Granger-Weasley had made an impressive effort to counter prejudice against werewolves, to paint them as human and misunderstood, so Maddie really didn't expect to find one in the forest of all places.

She hadn't understood then, that they couldn't exactly transform in downtown London. Not if they couldn't afford wolfsbane.

A regular wolf would've been easy enough to fight off with a well-placed stunning spell, so Maddie, though scared, wasn't terrified. Not until the wolf made its way through the trees and she noticed the tufted tail, the slightly too-long snout, and the look of madness in its pupils- madness much too powerful for any normal animal.

She screamed and it attacked, its teeth sinking hard into her side. Maddie passed out within seconds, but later on she was told that Justin's mother came and fought it off and dragged her back to the house, where Justin stood over her bloody body and cried.

McGonagall had been called, and Slughorn put in charge of brewing Wolfsbane every month. Everything was fine between Maddie and Justin, and her secret was safe. At least until Teddy Lupin figured it out- which wasn't surprising, and not all that bad because he was even better about it than Justin.

The problem was that Justin didn't trust Teddy, and he confronted him about sticking his nose where it didn't belong. They argued about it right in the middle of the Great Hall. Maddie watched on in horror as they danced dangerously close to the truth, all the way up until Justin shouted, "You're only nice to Maddie because she's a werewolf like your dad!"

And everyone heard.

Maddie didn't talk to Justin for weeks. Teddy was extremely helpful in dealing with the odd stares, but he had a million friends and Quidditch practices, and he spent most his free time studying for classes, so really his company was too fleeting to truly comfort her. Eventually she couldn't take it anymore and forgave Justin, at least kind of, and naturally they became close friends again, the closest of friends, even if they weren't alike at all and didn't entirely trust each other. Justin never quit flinching when Maddie growled at him and Maddie never again told him a single one of her secrets.

But those things hardly mattered because they were all each other had. No matter how many people Maddie could babble to about unimportant things, none of them were willing to be a _real _friend to the werewolf girl. Not like Justin, who punched Gareth MacMillan in the face fifth year when he, after Maddie broke up with him for being an arse, said that he'd only dated her out of pity anyway… who took her to the Christmas Ball sixth year when no one else would, and who held her every night for a week after her Muggle brother found out she was a werewolf and quit talking to her entirely.

So Justin was a good friend, despite their differences, and Maddie really did love him.

She also missed him. A lot.

The first week had been fine. She was used to not hearing from Justin for that long, occasionally longer even. And, somewhere in the back of her mind, Maddie was still certain that Dumbledore would come and get her any day and say that he'd discovered a way to send her home.

Except he didn't, and the days kept ticking by, and Maddie began wondering if she was going to see Justin White ever again. One thought drifted into another, and she found herself thinking about her family too. Her father had left when she was little, and her mother wasn't much of a mother, and then there was her old brother, Jake, who'd been her best friend at one point and then suddenly wasn't.

She hadn't been close to any of them, not really, but the idea of never seeing them again still made her queasy.

Maybe it had only been a little over two weeks since she'd gone back in time, definitely not long enough to worry over, but Maddie hadn't entirely realized that her trip into the past wasn't a passing ordeal.

Now she was beginning to, and with that realization came the haunting worry that Dumbledore _wouldn't _be able to get her home.

Her moods didn't change all that much during the day. She was closer to Charlus and Ignatius than she'd been with anyone but Justin in the future, and even Tom had turned into something close to a friend-like figure. Although she knew he was acting, it was nice to have an interesting conversation with someone who expected nothing out of her. It also helped exponentially in keeping her from missing Justin. Between her Gryffindor friends and some of her talks with Tom, Maddie was able to forget him almost entirely throughout the day.

It was only late at night, when she really had time to think, that thoughts of the future began to eat away at her. Normally they were somewhat easy to ignore, but then Justin's birthday popped up, and Maddie couldn't push her friend out of her mind. After spending over an hour tossing and turning in bed, she finally decided that trying to sleep was useless. Moving quietly so as not to take her roommates, Maddie shrugged into a thick jumper before sneaking out of Gryffindor tower and down to the kitchens.

Azaria was sitting at the table and nursing a cup of tea when she got there. Her head jerked up when Maddie entered, but the surprise on her face quickly morphed into an ugly scowl, as if Maddie was the last person she wanted to see.

That was hardly surprising. They hadn't spoken more than two words to each other since they'd started classes, and they sure as hell weren't avoiding each other out of love.

"Connolly," said Azaria lowly.

"You really should call me Dumbledore," Maddie said dully. "Someone might be listening."

"Who? The house elves?"

"People do tend to underestimate them." She noticed the dark circles under the other girl's eyes and made a face. "Why're you up so late, anyway?"

Azaria pursed her lips. "I could be asking you the same question. Seems to me you should be happy; you've got a couple friends who aren't worried that you're going to eat them, and an attractive guy is paying attention to you for the first time in your life. Nothing going on that should be keeping _you _awake."

"I haven't noticed any attractive guys," lied Maddie. There was Charlus, but he had a girlfriend. Ignatius, she supposed, could be considered attractive if a person were to look at him the right way, but Azaria definitely wasn't the type to think so, and that really didn't leave anyone…

"Riddle?" Azaria asked. Maddie blinked. Oh. Right. He was a guy, wasn't he?

"Sorry," said Maddie. "I sometimes forget he's human."

Azaria laughed. "Really? From what I can see, you seem to have a problem forgetting he _isn't_ human. You two have been looking cozy lately, talking on the way to classes, exchanging words in the Great Hall at meals. It's cute, really."

"He's acting," said Maddie. "I'm not an idiot. Although I can't figure out why he's putting so much effort into it. He could find a nice way to tell me to bugger off without raising anyone's suspicions."

"It's because you're a Dumbledore, dimwit," Azaria said. "He wants you close to him. I half think he's hoping he can draw you into his inner circle, make you a Death Eater or something to get at our 'uncle'. I've been ignoring him whenever he tries talking to me, but you're so much more open. He probably thinks you'd be easier to manipulate."

Maddie frowned. That made a strange kind of sense now that she thought about it. In fact, she felt rather dim for not considering the possibility earlier. Of course Tom would be interested in her; she was supposedly related to the only wizard he'd ever feared. He would probably think she'd be one of Dumbledore's greatest weaknesses.

"I'm not going to be a Death Eater," said Maddie. "And I'm not easy to manipulate."

"He doesn't know that."

They fell silent. Maddie hated silence.

"It's Justin's birthday," she blurted. "That's why I'm down here. Because I miss him… and my family, too, I suppose, though not half so much. Do you miss anyone?"

Azaria narrowed her eyes. "As a matter of fact, I do."

"Who?"

"That isn't any of your business, Dumbledore."

"You took my advice, calling me Dumbledore."

Azaria scowled.

"Impertinent half-breed."

Well, at least that was a bit more in character.

"You still haven't answered my question. Why are you so broody?"

"Fuck off."

Azaria then got to her feet and left.

Maddie stayed where she was for a long moment, not moving a muscle. It wasn't until she noticed a house elf standing by her feet, waiting for instructions, that she remembered what she'd come down to the kitchens for.

"I need a birthday cake," she told the elf.

The cake was supplied in an almost ridiculously short amount of time. Maddie transfigured a spoon into a candle and lit it, then sang 'Happy Birthday' under her breath and tried not to cry at the thought that it was the first birthday of Justin's she'd missed since they came to Hogwarts.

She couldn't bring herself to eat so much as a piece of the cake alone. With a quivering lip, she snuck back to Gryffindor tower and knocked gently on the door to the seventh year boys' dorms. Daniel Longbottom answered tiredly, but immediately let her in when she held up the cake. Charlus and Ignatius jerked awake, both of their eyes immediately flying to the cake.

"I couldn't sleep," Maddie said, "so I kind of figured... cake party."

Charlus and Daniel quickly flocked over to her, already finding random things to transfigure into plates and eating utensils. Ignatius hung back, looking slightly more skeptical.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," said Maddie with a small smile. "I am now."

With no more questions asked, the four of them inhaled the entire cake within twenty minutes.

That night, Maddie stayed in their dorm, sleeping at the foot of Charlus's bed.

It was the first good-night's sleep she'd had in days.

...

Piper Considine was too sick to attend potions the next morning. Maddie wasn't especially concerned about the (annoyingly cheerful) Hufflepuff Head Girl, who she was told had the stomach flu, but the class was due to start a new potion that day, and Maddie was very worried about the partnering up situation.

When Maddie arrived in 1944, Piper and Tom had been working together. Piper volunteered to help Maddie. Tom began working by himself.

Now Maddie was concerned that she'd wind up partnered with Mister Voldemort given that the bubbly Head Girl was shut up in the hospital wing. Not that she particularly minded Tom, not when he kept up his little angel act, but she also wasn't especially fond of working with him. He was a wee bit of an arrogant arse. Truly, the boy acted as though she possessed no intelligence whatsoever. She probably wouldn't get to so much as _touch _the potion if she was stuck with the megalomaniacal swot.

And stuck with him she was. As soon as Slughorn noticed Piper's absence, he smiled at Tom and said, "I'm afraid you'll have to work with Miss Dumbledore, Tom. This is a rather difficult potion, and I would like everyone to have a partner."

"Pardon me, sir, but when Miss Considine returns…?"

"She is by far competent enough to brew it herself. Not that you are not, but… the other students may not find it so easy."

Slughorn then began addressing the class on the first steps they should take in making _Felix Felicis. _Maddie ignored him and muttered to Tom, "I'm trying to decide who finds me stupider; you or Slughorn."

"You are quite paranoid, Madeline. We both realize that you are an intelligent witch… I believe that Professor Slughorn is simply concerned about your attention issues."

Maddie wanted to deny having so-called 'attention issues,' but after being stuffed with Muggle ADD medicine until she got to Hogwarts, she was well aware that she really didn't have all that valid of an argument.

"Oh, don't look at me like that, Madeline," said Tom. "I simply stated Slughorn's opinion. It doesn't mean I feel the same way. I find you quite charming. Now, if you wouldn't mind, would you be a dear and fetch me some Valerian root? I would do it myself, but I wish to get the base heating."

Maddie stared at him for a long moment, but reluctantly decided to go along with his request. She grabbed the Valerian root and deposited it neatly on his table when she returned.

"Okay. Now what can I do to help?"

"Stay where you are a moment… I'll have directions for you soon."

"But-"

"_Madeline_," he warned.

Maddie scowled, but waited.

After ten minutes of Maddie fidgeting and peeking over his shoulder and making her boredom as obvious as possible, Tom finally said, "I need salamander blood."

Maddie held back a growl. The insults to her intelligence were one thing, but him bossing her about like a servant girl was infuriating! Not to mention that Tom wasn't especially in her good graces at the moment , not after she figured out (or Azaria told her) the reason he was spending so much time with her in the first place. "Do I _look _like your house elf?"

"Don't be offended. I'm simply asking because you aren't doing anything else," said Tom absently, not even glancing at her as he stirred the potion. Maddie balled her hands into fists and let out a low breath.

"Maybe," she said as calmly as she could, "that's because you won't _let _me. We're on step four, right? Why can't I stir for the last three minutes while _you _play errand boy?"

Tom's shoulders stiffened, and he finally spared her a glance. "We both know that I am extraordinarily competent at this class, and though you are not terrible, this is a very difficult potion to brew, and I believe both of our grades would be much higher if you would leave the majority of the process to myself. It will be easier for you anyway."

Maddie looked closely at the potion, then glanced at her book, examining the steps carefully. There was a reason that salamander blood was to be put in next; it dulled certain volatile components of the previously added ingredients and made the potion easier to work with… however, adding something more reactive, such as flobberworm mucus, would only intensify those components, and, well... that would cause quite the nasty little explosion.

"Fine. You just keep stirring while your useless, uneducated little house elf tries to figure out just what, exactly, salamander blood is."

"Sarcasm is not becoming."

"Neither is arrogance, arseface," Maddie shot over her shoulder as she all but stomped over to the storage cabinet. Lips turned down into an angry frown, she quickly glanced over the ingredients, grabbed the vial she wanted, and headed back to where Tom was working.

"Salamander blood, right?" she asked brightly. Tom glanced up at her and opened her mouth, but Maddie cheerfully said, "Can I put it in?"

Tom grit his teeth, but nodded briskly. "Very well, if you're that inclined to help. Three drops."

Maddie hastily did as she was told, then quickly hid the vial before Tom could see what she'd added. Still smiling broadly, she said, "Now I suppose I should go get the lionfish spines, seeing as we'll need those for the next step. You're right Tom; I'm not smart enough to brew this. You'd better do the hard work, and I'll fetch ingredients."

Then she hurried off back to the supply closet. If her calculations were correct- which they may not have been, given that she wasn't exactly a potions master- the concoction should blow in 3… 2… 1…

_SPLAT! _

Maddie turned around slowly, a broad grin on her face, to see that their potion had erupted out of the cauldron, covering their entire work surface, as well as the Head Boy, in gooey gold slime.

It was even a Gryffindor color, and given that Tom's face was pretty darn close to crimson, he'd fit right in with the house of lions. Hell, it even looked like he was about to roar.

"Dumbledore?" asked Tom lowly. His hair was plastered to his face with the goo, and it dripped down his cheeks and off his nose, with some of the thicker clumps sticking to his flushed skin. His clothes were so covered in it that they appeared to be solid gold. "May I see that vial you just used?"

Maddie wordlessly held up the vial of flobberworm mucus. Tom took it out of her hands and examined it closely, then thrust it back towards her in absolute disgust, all while the rest of the class looked on in awed silence.

"_I. Said. Sal-a-man-der. Blood_."

"That is salamander blood," said Maddie innocently.

"No, it is not." His voice sent shivers down her spine, and for the first time Maddie saw the essence of Lord Voldemort in Tom's eyes. She swallowed hard and looked away, already _almost_ regretting what was an unquestionably stupid decision. But he was using her, and then asking her to fetch his things like she was a brainless ape… it was disgusting and she just couldn't let him get away with being horrible!

"But I… I was so certain…" she stuttered, hoping she was convincing. Tom opened his mouth, but, by that time, the rest of the class seemed to unfreeze, and Slughorn hurried over.

"I know you're upset dear Tom, but this will not affect your grade, don't worry. For now, it is best you get to the hospital wing… I do think the flobberworm mucus she added will make your hair fall out if you don't get it looked at immediately…" Tom reached up with a shaking hand and ran it through his thick hair. An enormous clump came out in his hand, and Maddie cringed. Whoops. "Oh…" Slughorn took the clump of hair from Tom's hand and awkwardly patted it back onto his head. "It's probably best you don't do that; it may take a while to grow back. Now, please do calm down dear boy, Madam Churchill will help you straight away, please just-"

Tom swept out of the room before Slughorn could utter another word, letting the door slam shut hard behind him. The entire class gasped in unison.

_Well, _thought Maddie, _at least I can go down in history as being the first person to make Voldemort lose his smiley mask. _

"I didn't do it," Maddie blurted as soon as Tom was gone. "I mean… I did, but I really didn't know… it was an accident. I thought I'd grabbed the right one, and they were both green and liquidy, and… I was so flustered to be working with _Tom_. I just wanted to impress him, and I- I'm s-so _sorry! _Please don't give me detention… please!_" _

She sniffled for effect.

Slughorn frowned deeply.

"I believe you," he said, and Maddie sighed in relief. "Therefore I will not give detention; however, you will be required to stay after class and clean up the mess you have made. See to it that you do not get any in your hair."

"Of course, Professor," Maddie said demurely.

"After that… interesting incident, I think it may be best to dismiss you for the rest of the period," Slughorn said to the remainder of the class. "I will see you later."

Maddie began cleaning up the gooey gold mess that coated her workspace as everyone else flooded out of the room. She'd just picked up the cauldron to start working it over with a scrubbing charm when she felt someone watching her. Slowly, she turned her neck to meet Atius Lestrange's furious gaze.

"You did that on purpose," he accused, sidling closer to her.

"That's ridiculous."

"You'll pay for it, you know." He came to a stop right behind Maddie and lowered his lips to her ear, his breath hot against her skin as he spoke. "You'll pay for all of this in a worse way than you could ever imagine, you filthy, disgusting excuse for a pureblood. Grindelwald is going to kill your uncle soon… he's probably already killed your cowardly father, and I bet that when he's through with more important matters, he's going to kill _you_."

Most girls would have slapped him, if anything.

Maddie socked him in the face.

Her fist hit his nose with a satisfying _crunch_, and blood started flowing almost immediately.

It was the second nose-bleed she'd given him.

Someone coughed.

Maddie cursed.

"Miss Dumbledore?" asked Slughorn.

She pursed her lips. "I've got detention now, haven't I?"

"This Saturday. Four o'clock."

"Saturday?" He narrowed his eyes, and she hastily said, "I mean, of course, Professor. Saturday is perfect."

Maddie sloppily finished cleaning and then hurried out of the dungeons before Atius had recovered enough to go after her.

…

"We need to talk."

Maddie groaned and resisted the urge to rush back to Gryffindor tower. She'd been hiding out in there all evening, and just as she decided to sneak down to the kitchens to make up for the meal she'd been too scared to eat, the worst possible person besides Tom or one of his cronies just _had _to find her.

"Azaria, if this is about what I did to Tom, then I already know it was dangerous, and stupid, and terrible, and-"

"Good. So you know that you're an idiot," said Azaria. Her bag was slung over her shoulder, and she almost appeared to be in a good mood as she fell into step next to Maddie. Probably because she knew Tom would kill her before the day was out. That was probably the only thing that _could _put Azaria into a good mood.

Maddie cringed. "I'm definitely aware of it. I've been having nightmares through all my classes of how he's going to kill me in my sleep. Really, I'd appreciate it if you'd stop smiling about it. I'm terrified enough about my impending death, and I'd rather not have you rubbing it into my face."

Azaria snorted.

"You're rather egotistical, aren't you? I'm not smiling over you, though I do find your situation quite funny."

"Oh," said Maddie. "Then what's got you smiling?"

"If you must know, I'm smiling because, despite the sheer idiocy of your actions, I just walked pass Riddle in the hallway, and… I can't exactly complain about the results."

"Results?" Maddie squeaked. She raked a hand through her wild red curls. "If there's permanent damage, he's going to kill me. He'll skin me alive, make a wallet out of my scalp, and then turn it into a Horcrux… please tell me you're happy because you're deeply in love with him and were glad to see that absolutely nothing was wrong with his pretty face, because I really don't want to be turned into a Horcrux wallet."

Azaria snorted.

"In love with Riddle? Unfortunately for you, I haven't fallen for the lying piece of halfblood scum. I'm afraid that there may have been a few… lingering effects of your incident that I found rather amusing."

"Like?"

"You'll just have to wait to see for yourself. Don't worry; a special potion is needed to make hair grow, and it takes two weeks to brew. You'll have plenty of time to see the fruits of your stupidity."

"Bloody hell. I'm a dead person."

"Your own fault."

They trailed off into silence, but still continued walking alongside each other. After a moment, Maddie commented, "You know, this conversation has been rather civil so far. I'm starting to wonder if you're not such an evil person after all."

Azaria's face hardened, and her lips tightened into a thin line, her eyes narrowing to slits.

"Your actions amused me. You, yourself, still disgust me."

"Uh-huh. Now, about Tom-"

"Like I said; see for yourself."

…

See for herself Maddie did.

Unfortunately, it was much, _much _sooner than she would've liked.

Tom was sitting in the kitchens when she arrived.

_What in the hell was it with evil Slytherins and the bloody kitchens!? Is it because they like skulking about in the middle of the night? Did they not eat at their house tables like normal people? Or was the odd behavior driven by a house elf fettish of some sort? _

Maddie's first urge was to scream, but then the desire to burst out laughing hit her so hard that she was somewhat worried she wouldn't be able to control it.

She did, but only just.

One of his eyebrows had fallen out, and much of his perfect, beautiful hair was gone. Thick brown tufts protruded from various places around his head, with several unfortunately noticeable bald spots in between.

He looked hilarious.

He also looked murderous.

"The new look is really sexy," she tried weakly. "As in, sexy enough to make me want to jump you."

"Try it and see what happens."

She coughed awkwardly.

"I didn't mean I'd actually jump you. Not that you aren't attractive or anything, because you are, but I generally like guys who treat me like I'm not stupid, although probably I should be a little more lenient with that now, since I _had _been stupid… extremely stupid, actually, because you're a scary Slytherin, and I know you don't like me all that much in the first place, and now I just made your hair fall out and the great Tom Riddle looks bloody ridiculous, and _please don't kill me." _

She stayed standing where she was, right in front of the door, ready to run as soon as it looked as though she needed to.

Tom stared at her for a long moment, anger plain on every inch of his face. He didn't speak a word. A minute passed in complete silence, and then Maddie decided that she could do without a snack.

"Well, I'll be going then."

She turned to leave, but stopped when Tom let out a low sigh behind her.

"Madeline… wait."

Maddie stopped.

"I… I apologize for scaring you." It sounded like he was dragging the words out of his throat with a pair of pliers. "You had… every right to act the way you did. It was wrong of me to treat you as if you were too incompetent to aid in making the potion, and… my behavior to you since the incident has been unacceptable."

Slowly turning, Maddie felt her lips curve up into a small smile. She knew Tom was acting; hell, his words were so strained that a first year could tell he wasn't _really _sorry. His apology almost seemed to cause him physical pain, and anger vibrated through every word he spoke. Still, it was an apology, and that was what really mattered. Tom wouldn't bother going through all the trouble of apologizing if he was going to destroy his ruse by going all Voldemort on Maddie anyway.

Tom was letting her get away with it.

Without really thinking about it, Maddie whirled around and sprinted towards the future dark lord, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist. She tended to hug people in any situation where a hug was even vaguely necessary, and no matter how badly Tom Riddle hated her, she was so relieved at his apology that she couldn't help herself. When the Head Boy stiffened under her touch, Maddie squeezed hard one more time and then backed up, exhaling quickly in relief when she saw that Tom had calmed down enough to school his features back into their normal, non-murderous expression.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," she said quickly. "Adding flobberworm mucus was stupid of me; I knew it'd make your hair fall out, but it just slipped my mind, and I'm _so _sorry. Please, let me make it up to you. I'll…" She dug in her bag and rifled through the contents, frowning for a moment until she pulled out an unopened bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans. "I'll give you my candy."

"What in Salazar's name are _those_?" Tom asked, his lips pursed as though he was trying to hold back an expression of disgust.

Maddie blinked at him.

"You seriously don't know."

"I'm afraid I rarely consume sweets."

"_Of course_. Sweets are unsophisticated, that just wouldn't be good enough for you, would it?" She sighed and went on before he could say anything. "These are Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. Most of them are delicious, but you have to be careful. When they say every flavor, they mean every flavor. I got a feces flavored one once, and good Merlin-"

"And you want me to _eat _them?"

Maddie sighed and took the bag from him, opening it up and rifling through the contents. When she found a familiar-looking bean, she grabbed Tom's hand, pried open his abnormally long fingers, and set it inside.

"There. That one's chocolate peanut butter. Eat it."

Tom cautiously did so, and Maddie watched on his he chewed, totally blank-faced, before he finally swallowed. His expression didn't change the entire time, and even when he looked back at her, his features showed absolutely nothing.

"It wasn't terrible," he said coolly. "Very well. I'll accept your peace offering."

"Just don't be mad at me if you get one that tastes disgusting."

"I'll be careful, Dumbledore."

"Right. So I'm forgiven now?"

Something in his eyes clearly said that she was not, but the perfect Head Boy didn't hold grudges, and he most definitely didn't glare murderously at his classmates.

"Yes," he said. He really had no choice if he was to keep up his reputation. "You're forgiven."

Maddie smiled and resisted the urge to hug him again. She didn't want him to change his mind and decide to kill her.

"Brilliant. Er, you don't think you could talk to Atius and get him to forgive me, too, do you? Because I'm just a small amount frightened of him…"

Tom smirked. "That's your own problem, Dumbledore. Now, if you don't mind, I believe I must be going. Good evening."

"Good night." She paused. "And Tom?"

"Yes?"

"You _could _transfigure a wig until Madam Churchill's potion is done. Just a thought."

The Head Boy stopped where he was, and Maddie could see him do a mental face-palm. She had to bite her lip to keep from bursting into laughter as a look of absolute fury decorated Tom's face before he pushed it back, no doubt murderously angry at being made to look like a fool by the same annoying Gryffindor for the second time in a day.

"Thank you for the suggestion," he ground out.

Maddie couldn't help the laugh that bubbled out of her mouth when she replied, "You're welcome."

The Head Boy slammed the portrait behind him just a tad bit too loudly when he left.

...

**A/N- **

**Sorry, sorry, sorry. This is really late, and I've had it done for almost two weeks. My fanfiction account hasn't been working on Google Chrome whenver I've tried doing anything with it (still doesn't actually), but I tried it with internet explorer just now and it's perfectly fine, so I'm kind of doing the same kind of mental facepalm thing that Tom did with the wig. **

**Anyway, this chapter kind of has a lot of blithering at the start, but there did need to be a bit of a background there for Maddie and even though that isn't quite everything, I did get most of it all out there. I hope it didn't make everything drag out too much. Also, since there was so much blabbering and whatnot, if there's anything that runs together too much or doesn't make sense, please, please tell me. **

**Other than that, I hope you liked it and please review. I want to get this up ASAP so no review replies, but I promise I'll do them next chapter. **

**~bballgirl32~**

**p.s. For all those who're reading my Marvel story for the Hunger Games, I've got a beast of a chapter all finished up. It's poorly edited and it'll take some time to hack my way through all seven-thousand something words, but I'm hoping it'll be up within a couple days. Finally. **


	6. A Changing Past

Ch.6: A Changing Past

…

"You want me to _WHAT_?"

Maddie stared at Slughorn, not entirely sure that she'd heard him correctly when he described what, exactly, she was going to have to do for her detention.

"I'm having a Slug Club supper this evening," he replied tightly, giving her a look that said she was most clearly _not _invited to it, "and my floors are rather dirty. I could use a cleaning charm, I am well aware, but the tile doesn't quite sparkle the same way as if it is hand scrubbed." He waved his wand and conjured a bucked of soapy water and a toothbrush. "Now get to work. The supper starts in an hour."

"But that's a _toothbrush_."

"Very good, Miss Dumbledore. And you're going to use it to scrub my floors."

He then took a seat at his desk and set to work grading papers. Maddie gave him another disbelieving look before she sighed and stripped off her outer robes, tossing them carelessly on a table before lowering herself to the floor. She could feel Slughorn's eyes on her as she began scrubbing away like a house elf, and she grit her teeth against firing a nasty comment in his direction. Scrubbing his floors was one thing, but using a bloody _toothbrush_?

After a while though, despite her reservations, Maddie all but forgot about Slughorn's silent presence and began humming under her breath as she cleaned, trying to distract herself from her work. The humming, no matter how awful, made the time go a bit faster even as her arms began to grow sore and her back stiffened from so much awkward bending. She was just about done, the last stretch of floor growing smaller and smaller in front of her, when she heard the door to Slughorn's office swing open.

To her absolute horror, Tom stepped through, his hair seemingly immaculately in place, and his dark eyes glittering with amusement as soon as he saw Maddie on the floor. His smirk widened as it dawned on him that she was technically kneeling at his feet, and Maddie attempted a wandless, nonverbal tripping hex under her breath.

It failed miserably. With a muttered curse, Maddie resumed attacking the floor with her filthy toothbrush.

"Professor," she heard Tom say, a note of pleasure still apparent in his voice, "Headmaster Dippet wishes to speak with you as soon as possible. I was on my way down to help set up for the meal when we ran into each other, and I'm afraid it sounded rather urgent. However, you're clearly busy-"

"Oh, nonsense Tom," Slughorn said, waving a hand dismissively. "The headmaster takes precedence over a silly detention. You may watch as Miss Dumbledore finishes her work, and then assure that she leaves when she is done. She's just the type to stick around and try to sneak in on the meal."

"She's really not," Maddie volunteered. _Not if you'll be there anyway, you bloody condescending whale_.

Both Tom and Slughorn ignored her.

Maddie began to feel ridiculously sorry for house elves.

"Why isn't Madeline invited to the meeting?" Tom asked, frowning slightly as though there was something he could not figure out. "My friends tell me that she has a transcendental intelligence in Care of Magical Creatures, and she is a Dumbledore, sir."

"We already have a Dumbledore in our group, Tom, and Azaria is much more well behaved. That girl is going to be something. Have you seen her in Defense Against the Dark Arts? She's brilliant."

"Very well then," said Tom. "I was simply curious. Now, your meeting with Headmaster Dippet, sir?"

"Oh, yes, yes. I will try to be back before the feast starts, but do not neglect to begin without me. I trust you to keep everyone under control."

"Of course, sir."

The Slughorn waddled away, shooting Maddie a frightening look as he backed out the door. Maddie exhaled sharply and resumed working more urgently than before. Now that Tom was watching, she was eager to get out of there, especially if it was as close to the meeting time as it seemed. She wasn't eager for a hoard of Slytherins to see her scrubbing the floor with a toothbrush.

"I find his intense dislike of you rather amusing," Tom said as Maddie worked.

"You would, wouldn't you?"

"Nothing against you, of course," said Tom. "It's just rare to see him show such blatant dislike to a student who isn't entirely stupid."

"So you admit I'm not _entirely _stupid?" asked Maddie.

"We've had this discussion more times than I can count," Tom said. "I don't not find you unintelligent in the least."

"You seemed to when I was so kindly trying to help you brew that potion the other day," Maddie replied lightly. She straightened up and laced her fingers behind her back, pulling and stretching her aching shoulders. Tom's eyes followed the movement, and the Gryffindor pursed her lips, figuring he was going to get on her for taking a break. Biting her tongue against an unhelpful comment, she grabbed her toothbrush again.

"I apologized for behaving so abominably," said Tom finally.

"Abominably? Do you read dictionaries for fun? I don't think I've ever heard someone talk so ridiculously perfect in my life. It's disconcerting."

"You're rather hypocritical. You have an almost identical habit of using large words, though perhaps with slightly more flawed grammar."

"I wasn't saying it like it was a bad thing. Just figured it was something I should point out."

"Of course."

Triumphantly, Maddie finished scrubbing the last bit of floor. "Now, as much as I love your dazzling company, it seems as though my detention is finished. I'll be seeing you then-"

The door flew open and slammed back against the wall, cutting Maddie off midsentence.

"Riddle, I just heard-" Atius Lestrange started as he burst through, but he snapped his mouth shut as soon as he saw Maddie, the serious expression on his face morphing into a cruel smirk.

"He gets a Slug Club invite over _me_?" Maddie demanded indignantly.

"Slughorn has always been preferential towards his own house. Do not take it personally," said Tom smoothly. He looked at Atius. "What did you need?"

"Nothing. It was just something about that thing we were discussing yesterday," Atius said, and Maddie figured that meant it was probably evil Death Eater business. "Anyway, it's not important anymore. Not with Dumbledore here, working and cleaning like a sweet little house elf. I think it's made my day, truly. The filthy blood traitor finally kneeling for her superiors-"

"Atius," Tom said warningly.

"It's okay, Tom," said Maddie sweetly. "He's just feeling threatened because this filthy blood traitor has already broken his nose twice." She tilted her head at Atius and frowned. "By the way, whoever healed it didn't a very good job. It's a bit crooked still."

"Fuck you."

"I know you'd like to, but I'm afraid I'd rather pry my eyeballs out with a spoon."

Atius stood up from where he'd been leaning against the doorframe and barred his teeth in a way that would've put her wolf form to shame.

"As if I would ever deign to so much as _touch _you, Dumbledore. I have higher standards than the brainless niece of the biggest blood traitor in history. If-"

"Enough," interjected Tom sharply, his tone having shifted from warning to almost violent. "Madeline, I think it best that you go now. Lestrange clearly has no control over his tongue, and I would feel much better about letting him interact with you if I could speak with him about acting more appropriately. There's no need for you to be hearing such crude language."

Atius visibly paled, and Maddie didn't want to know what, exactly, Tom meant by 'speaking with him' about it.

"Er. Thanks, Tom," she said reluctantly. "Bye. I guess." She felt just a little bit of pity for Atius and reached out to pat him on the arm as she headed out the door. He looked at her in horrified disbelief. Whoops. She'd forgotten the whole 'I'd never deign to so much as touch you' thing. "Sorry," she said quickly, although it seemed that Atius had bigger problems to worry about. As Maddie closed the door behind her, she could just barely hear Tom hiss, "I want his nieces on our side, Lestrange. We can't afford-"

Maddie shivered. Azaria was right then. Tom was trying to reel her in.

She picked up her pace just a bit as she hurried back to Gryffindor tower.

…

"Check," Maddie said lazily, moving a rook into place right in front of Charlus's king. He frowned and stared at the board, his brow furrowed in concentration.

"I thought you said you were terrible at chess," Charlus protested when he threw his hands back in surrender.

"She is," Ignatius commented from his place on the couch. He had a newspaper laying open on his stomach, but he'd been peeking over at their match every few minutes and providing commentary about how the both of them were a disgrace to the game. "This is sad as all hell. The two of you are horrible."

"Well, I'm obviously horribler than she is," said Charlus. "Because I just lost."

"You seriously can't see how you can save your king?"

"No, I bloody well cannot," Charlus said. He then looked at Maddie and dramatically moved one of his pawns forward, leaving his king open for her rook to sweep in and destroy.

"You're not supposed to be able to make a move if it leaves your king vulnerable like that," Ignatius said, his eyes already back on the newspaper. "But I suppose it's not cheating if you lose because of it."

"So you're saying I'm too stupid to even cheat properly?" Charlus demanded.

"That's exactly what I'm…"

Ignatius trailed off, his eyes narrowing as something in the paper seemed to catch his attention. Mouth drooping into a frown, he sat up in his seat and held up a hand when both Maddie and Charlus started to ask him what was going on. When he was evidently finished with the article, he slowly said, "I think you might want to read this, Mads. A bunch of hippogriff dung, but you should know what people are saying."

Ignatius then tossed the newspaper onto a bewildered Maddie's lap. It was a copy of the Daily Prophet- of course, because wizards weren't smart enough not to let a single newspaper get a monopoly on the whole business- and the headline of one small article burned bright on the page.

**ALBUS DUMBLEDORE: WHERE ARE YOU? **

The article then went on to say how the cowardly old wizard was allowing thousands to die and any unoccupied countries on the Continent to get taken over without so much as batting an eye. According to them, he should have interfered in Grindelwald's war a long time ago, and after the recent destroying of the Eiffel Tower and subsequent rampage through Paris, it was high time Dumbledore was moved to action.

"It's bloody stupid," Ignatius was saying. "The ministry hasn't sent a single Auror to help them out, and apparently our transfiguration teacher is expected to mosey on over and take on Grindelwald… no matter that Dumbledore is the greatest ever. It isn't his job."

Maddie bit her lip. She wanted to tell him that Dumbledore _should _be over there, and that if they'd wait seventy years and check out his biography, they'd know that he was well able to beat Grindelwald, that his hesitation wasn't from fear, exactly, but from unwillingness to take on his childhood friend. It was tempting to say _something_ just so Ignatius would calm down, and Maddie was actually about to, when something she'd read in the article fully sank in. Maddie frowned, sure she'd misunderstood, and looked back through the passage until she found what she was looking for.

She hadn't imagined it.

The Eiffel Tower had been completely destroyed.

Maddie swept through the article again, making sure she'd read correctly. She had. The Muggle Eiffel Tower had been torn _to the ground_.

"That's not supposed to happen," Maddie muttered.

"I know it's not," Ignatius said. "Your uncle doesn't need to go to war. It's a bunch of hogwash-"

"No," said Maddie. "Uncle Albus _does _need to take on Grindelwald because no one else can. What's wrong… it's the Muggle thing. When did that happen?"

"Just last night," said Ignatius. "Why?"

Maddie closed her eyes and took a deep, shaking breath. It was impossible. The Eiffel Tower was never completely destroyed, she was sure of it. She wasn't exactly a history buff, but chances were they wouldn't have rebuilt the thing if had been flattened completely. Now… now it was, and a good chunk of Paris had been wiped out with it.

Time had been changed. Maddie didn't know how or why or what had caused the alteration, but something was different, something _big_, and time travel was rare enough that there was no wayit was a coincidence.

"Um. My family and I visited there when I was young," Maddie said quickly. "I just can't believe it's gone, is all…"

"Aw, that sucks. I'm sorry Mads," Charlus said.

"I'm fine," said Maddie dully. She stared at the article. "It's just… surprising, is all. Actually, do you guys mind if I run and talk to my uncle quick? It'll just be a moment."

"No," Ignatius said. He was looking at Maddie worriedly, as if he wasn't sure whether or not he really wanted to believe that she was okay. "Go ahead."

She thanked them quickly, then snatched up the paper and took off to search for Dumbledore.

…

"We have a problem," Maddie announced breathlessly once she finally found Dumbledore in his private quarters. He'd answered the door wearing bright green slippers and purple robes that border-lined neon. His Sunday best, apparently.

"Madeline?" asked Dumbledore. Maddie noticed for the first time that he really didn't look so good; there were dark circles under his eyes and his face appeared to be a good deal more pale than usual. It seemed as though he'd heard about Grindelwald's attack on Paris as well. "What's the matter?"

"It's a private issue. Can I come in?"

Dumbledore stepped aside, and Maddie quickly rushed past him. She closed the door behind her, then spun on one heel and all but thrust the newspaper into the Transfiguration professor's hands.

"The Eiffel Tower was destroyed," she specified, not wanting Dumbledore to think that she thought his inaction was the problem. Although she couldn't help but acknowledge that his inaction _was _a problem. While Maddie very well understood sentimentality and how difficult it'd be to turn her back on a friendship like the one Dumbledore apparently used to have with Grindelwald, it was still a cowardly move on her 'uncle's' part to let so many people die when he could stop it so easily.

Then again, Maddie supposed that Dumbledore was only a man, no matter how much everyone liked to think otherwise. He made mistakes too. It was just a bit hard for her to stomach when he was currently making one of the biggest ones of his entire life.

"I have heard about that," said Dumbledore. "It is a problem, but nothing to get quite so excited about…" He trailed off, and his eyes flew to hers, understanding dawning as he realized the one thing that would get her so obviously upset. "It wasn't supposed to get torn down, was it?"

"It wasn't supposed to so much as get _touched _I don't think. And I'm also ninety percent sure that Paris didn't get hit half so hard as it did, if at all, and now that I'm thinking about it, it was about now that Grindelwald launched his first attack on Britain. Except for some reason he decided to revisit France instead, and now he's destroyed a super-important national monument and pretty much crushed the last chance of them doing anything in this war. It's almost like someone told him that Britain was a bad idea, because he got beat out right as soon as he tried invading there the first time, and if I remember right, France gave him problems towards the end of the war, and now they won't, and I think it's quite clear that someone went back in time and has been changing things, and there's absolutely no way that this is all coincidence, is there?"

Dumbledore closed his eyes for a long moment before he slowly peeled them open and placed a gentle hand on Maddie's shoulder.

"Breathe, Miss Connolly. You are doing very little good by working yourself up. Would you like to take a seat while we discuss this? I have biscuits as well, if you would like some."

"Professor, please… there can't be a third time traveler, can there?"

He stroked his beard thoughtfully.

"I'm afraid I cannot say. It would be a very odd coincidence should there be, but neither you nor Miss Warrington have sent anything from the school by owl, and I would know if you had left castle grounds. I do not see how either of you could have contacted Grindelwald, not in a way that would allow you to both gain his trust and impart thorough enough advice to convince him to change his battle plans."

Maddie bristled at Dumbledore's implication that he was keeping as close an eye on her as he was Azaria. Even Azaria had told him that Maddie got drawn into the whole stupid thing by accident! Did he really have to be so bloody suspicious?

"So you're saying that you're sure it wasn't either of us?"

"More or less, yes. I am quite worried, however, about the other party that Azaria mentioned on your first evening here. She said that someone else was originally going to travel with her, did she not?"

Maddie perked up a bit.

"Yeah, she did. You think that's who's doing all this? That whoever it is got back somehow and went straight to Grindelwald?"

"There is no way to know for sure… though I will admit it is quite unlikely that two time turners so powerful as to be able to send two people seventy years into the past would exist in the world at the same time. I'm shocked that your companion had even one in her possession because I'm entirely sure they haven't been invented at all as of 1944."

"Alright…"

"That is not to say that there's no chance Miss Warrington's friend found his or her way back in time somehow. There is a slight possibility that whoever it was managed to get close enough to the field of her time turner after it broke that they were absorbed by the residual energy and sent back as well."

"So…. what now?"

Dumbledore let out a long, low breath.

"Now, I'm afraid that it is of the utmost importance to find the definite source of this problem. It could already be too late, but if anything else is changed, I'm afraid that the future as you know it will be forcibly ripped from the timeline. There will be nothing for you to go back to, because history will have no choice but to remake itself."

He said the words so casually that Maddie didn't comprehend what he was getting at right away. She nodded along with him for a moment before she froze mid-movement and let out a little whimper, visibly flinching as if he'd punched her in the gut.

"F-forcibly ripped from the timeline?" Maddie asked shakily. "You're saying… I'd be stuck here forever. That I already could be stuck here forever?"

"That is what I _believe _will happen, but it is only a theory. You see, there are two types of time travel, Miss Connolly. In every case that has been studied, time plays out as it was supposed to originally. Never that we know of has time travel altered time, but rather it has caused things to occur in the fashion that they had originally. This is how it is supposed to work. It leaves the timeline whole and balanced.

"What is apparently happening here is different… whoever led to the change in Grindelwald's plans knowingly acted in a way that cannot possibly be fit into your original timeline, threatening to knock it off its axis. I do not believe the change has been great enough to entirely destroy your future, but if anything else of such a magnitude occurs, I theorize that things will alter to the degree that the future you knew will no longer exist. If you were to try jumping forward and there is no future currently there… I'm afraid the consequences would be devastating."

"Oh," said Maddie hollowly. His words were still echoing in her ears.

No future. No getting home.

The people she knew, her family… they might not ever exist.

"Do not fret. As I said, it is probable that too little has changed for such a thing to have happened. I will talk to Miss Azaria and see if I cannot get any information out of her about her mission or the companion who was supposed to be accompanying her. Until then, worrying will do nothing, and I am afraid all we can do is hope that nothing more will change."

Hope nothing more will change? He told her that her future was, in all probability, going to get wiped out entirely, and now he was saying that all she could do was _hope _it wouldn't happen?

"That's terrible advice," said Maddie. "I didn't come here for you to make me more miserable. I came here because I thought you'd _do something._"

"Madeline," Dumbledore said, slipping into a stern teaching voice. "There is little to be done. We know nothing right now, and I can't act-"

"That's your problem! _You can never freaking act!_ Not when it's got anything to do with your precious _Gellert _you can't. If you would've just hauled your useless arse over to Europe and dueled him right when all this started, you could've won, and all this would've been avoided, and the sodding Eiffel Tower would still _be there_. Everything would be fine, and the future wouldn't be getting screwed up, and hundreds of people wouldn't be dying _every single day_, but no matter, because you and Grindelwald bonded over plans of world domination for one single bleeding summer, and now you've got a bond so tight you'd rather watch him ravage Europe than grow a pair and go take him on! And maybe it's a wee bit selfish of me to scream like this because _I _want a home to go back to, but it's obviously Grindelwald with the rogue time-traveler on his side, and if you'd get rid of him, everything would be fine, so don't give me any of your ridiculous 'all we can do is hope' shit, and-"

Maddie cut herself off mid-sentence as her panic cleared just a tidge and she realized that she was giving a profanity-filled reaming to one of the greatest wizards of all time. Mouth snapping shut and eyes widening with horror, Maddie stared at a gaping Dumbledore for a long, silent moment. Ghost pale from mortification, Maddie swallowed hard, tried to utter an apology, and wound up taking off out of the room when she couldn't bring herself to say a word.

She rammed into Ignatius's chest before she reached the end of the hallway.

"Whoa there," he said, immediately reaching out to steady her. "I'm sorry, but I just had to go looking for you. You looked so terrible when you ran out, and I was worried, and… Merlin, it looks like you've just seen a ghost."

Maddie shook her head, but didn't even try to speak. She was still reeling from shock.

"Mads?" Ignatius pressed.

"I…" She swallowed hard. "I can't believe… my uncle, Dumbledore, he just… god. I'm terrible with this stuff." She looked straight at Ignatius and babbled, "I panic. Do you know that? You'd never think it, would you? I mean, I'm a big brave Gryffindor, but the thing is, I'm brave enough to charge into situations, or dumb enough to get myself dragged into them, and then once I'm there, I'm useless and demented, and… _oh god_. My uncle, he told me I might never get to go back home. That it might get ripped apart… totally destroyed, and he said we couldn't do anything when I know that's an outright lie, and I panicked, and I think I just… I, _oh god, _I'm never going home, and Dumbledore hates me because I just… I screamed at him and said it's his fault, that if he wasn't a coward he would've gone after Grindelwald a forever ago, except with a lot of ugly swear words, and oh god, I'm babbling again. Shut me up. Please god, just shut me up because I'm-"

"_Maddie!" _

She stopped talking. Ignatius put a gentle hand arm around her shoulders, keeping his entire body close to her, warm and so, so comforting. He smelled like what she thought family should smell like. Not like her mother's enormous mansion with too many empty rooms and fancy furniture and private tennis courts. Rather he smelled like pumpkin pie and candles and _happy_, which she thought was a really odd scent but it was really the only way she could describe it.

Without really thinking about it, Maddie buried her face in his chest and held onto him tightly, inhaling his scent whenever she thought about what she'd just said to Dumbledore and what he told her about there maybe being no future and the worrisome knowledge that she was acting like a whiny, dreadful priss about the whole situation.

"Did anyone die?" Ignatius finally asked after a long while. Maddie shook her head. "What about your home? Was it destroyed?"

"It might be," muttered Maddie.

"And everyone you're worried about… they _might _get hurt?"

"No," said Maddie. "I might never get to see them again, but.. they'd be fine, I suppose." _Potentially blotted out of existence, but fine. _

"But nothing has happened yet? At all?"

She clutched his shirt more tightly.

"No."

"Then perhaps," said Ignatius, "it'd be best if you hold off the breakdown until you have a reason for it. There's a war going on. Is this really the first you've seen of something like this?"

She nodded mutely.

"Well, and I don't mean to sound callous, but… you'd better get used to it. Grindelwald doesn't much like your family, and with your home seemingly in so much danger… it's probably a good idea for you work on building up a bit more Gryffindor spirit."

"But I can't-"

"This is a war, Mads. It sucks, but you won't last long if you blubber about everything that _might _happen. Now come on. I've let you have a bit of an episode, and it doesn't seem much like you deserved it anyway. If you're really so worried, it's better to keep busy than dwell on it. I'd advise writing a letter to your uncle to keep your mind all tied up for the time being. Sounds like he might need an explanation of some sort anyway." He gently put a hand under Maddie's chin and coaxed her out from his jumper. "Oh? And I'm afraid bad things still happen even if you try to keep yourself from seeing them."

"I… but…"

Still holding her close to him, he started off down the corridor.

"I had an uncle who lived down in France when Grindelwald tore through the first time. A pureblood, but he made it clear what he thought of the 'Greater Good'. He was tortured until he went insane. Some curse eventually made him throw up his own stomach. His kids, my cousins, they were taken off to concentration camps, and his wife was shipped away to some… factory, I think, and she's had three babies in the last two years with three different men, because that's what they do to the pureblood women they catch. And this hasn't just happened to my uncle's family. It's going on all over Europe."

Maddie couldn't move her legs anymore, and Ignatius had to help her keep walking.

"So hearing that something might go wrong isn't the worst that'll happen. But it does suck, and it's terrifying, psyching yourself out over something and dreading it and making it a million kinds of horrible in your head. It's when it gets horrible like that though, that you _can't _panic or freak out or bury your face in my jumper."

They continued walking at an unbelievably slow pace.

Maddie didn't find her voice until they were nearly to Gryffindor tower.

"I don't want to have to face this."

Ignatius went for a smile and actually almost sort of managed it.

"That's when it's most important that you do."

Maddie thought about that. She considered what Dumbledore said about the timeline being totally restarted. If that happened, the only people who would know anything was different would be she, Azaria, and whoever was helping out Grindelwald. It would affect three people. No one would get hurt, not really.

That wouldn't make leaving the future behind any easier. She had plans to marry Teddy Lupin- never mind that he'd just started seeing Victoire Weasley before she left and there was no chance in hell that Maddie could provide any kind of competition there- and she wanted to make things _really _okay with Justin again, because even though they were different and he told the entire school she was a werewolf, they were all each other'd had for six years and that meant a lot, especially because she had a feeling that, if he could go back in time, Justin would take a Cruciatus before he blurted out Maddie's secret again. Then there was her family, who she wouldn't really miss, but desperately, desperately wanted to make amends with. If nothig else, she at least she wanted to patch things up with her brother, who'd been her best friend, her everything, until he found out she wasn't human and couldn't accept it.

So she had a list. A small one. Of things that she badly wanted to do in the future.

But beyond never being able to accomplish anything on that list, she wouldn't _really _lose anything if she had to stay in the past. It wouldn't physically hurt her. It would suck, but not in the same way as hearing about a murdered uncle whose wife was being turned into a baby machine and whose children were probably dead.

Maddie still didn't want to face it. She wanted to snap at Ignatius for giving her useful advice when he should've just kept hugging her and letting her mope, even when she well knew that everything he said was true.

She knew that, if she stuck around back in 1944, with all of wizarding Europe still in war, getting back to a future she never really fit in with in the first place would be the least of her worries.

It still seemed like more than she could possibly handle.

"Dear lord," Maddie muttered. "I can't do this. I won't survive."

"You survived making Riddle's hair fall out," Ignatius said, lightly now. He gave her a smile, and Maddie couldn't help but think that it was rather beautiful. "I think a war should be easy after that."

"Maybe," Maddie said. "Just so long as you stick close and knock me over the head whenever I'm about to have an episode."

"I'll be sure to do that," Ignatius said. They stopped in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady. "Now let's get started on that letter, and perhaps I can wipe the floor with you in chess once you're all finished."

Maddie groaned, but it was good-naturedly. With all of Ignatius's advice churning about in her head, it was easy to find something to latch onto besides her worries of the future… and even if all she had to dwell on was the fact that she might never get home, Maddie figured she might've been okay with Ignatius there, walking close like he wanted to protect her and talking about anything and everything to try to keep her mind busy, and just… being a ridiculously good friend to a girl he hadn't met more than three weeks ago.

Hell, walking with him, having him look at her like she was worth being concerned about (even if she'd just gotten done with an unimpressive babbling fit), it almost made the idea of getting stuck in 1944 seem almost tolerable.

...

**A/N- **

**Here's a much quicker chapter than last time, although I'm afraid it isn't quite so lighthearted. Either way, it's the first hint of real plot action, so I'd like to see what you'll make of it. Thanks so much for all your support, and I'd love it if you'd continue to tell me what you think. **

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**mh21**- I'm glad you like Maddie so much, and am extremely relieved to find you don't think she's a Mary Sue. I actually went out of my way to avoid that, so it's good to hear the effort did me some good. I love your idea about Maddie biting Tom, too. I can't imagine what on earth Tom would do if that happened, but his reaction is rather fun to picture. **Ara95**- No Azaria this chapter, but she'll be popping up more and more frequently; I promise. Thanks for the review. **colette hyuga**- Gosh, I can't help but laugh whenever I picture Tom losing his perfect hair. I'm relieved I wasn't the only who thought it was funny. Anyway, thanks so much for your review. This chapter wasn't nearly as funny, but I hope you enjoyed it all the same. **Pepa333**- Thanks so much for checking out this story. I loved getting your reviews for P&P, and I can only hope this lives up to expectations. **Aly**- Glad you liked the chapter... I honestly hadn't even thought about the half-blood thing; it's so easy to think the Dumbledores are all purebloods because of how famous the name is. I do think that Maddie would still technically considered a pureblood as Dumbledore's niece though... she'd allegedly have 3/4 magical blood anyway. I'm not sure what that'd officially be, but I'll try to hold back on having her referred to as a pure-blood because of how ambiguous that is. Thanks for pointing it out. **FullmoonSwan-** Glad you liked it. **Someone's Charm**- Have I ever told you how much I appreciate your long reviews? They're all extremely helpful and really enjoyable to read, so thanks so much for taking the time to provide such great feedback. I'm thrilled you liked Prejudice and Pride, although I rather wish I had the patience to redo parts of the story because, rereading it I can pick out more than a few places that definitely need work. Anyway, you were pretty much right about Maddie and Justin's friendship- it was out of lack of options more than anything- but they were familiar with each other, and Maddie misses that familiarity more than she actually misses his company I think. As for Maddie's character, she hasn't been through half as much as Ginny had, like you said. Right now she's kind of just hanging out in the past after getting sent back from a relatively easy life in the future. Once the plot kicks in and things do get more difficult, she'll flesh out some and grow more as a person (or at least that's what I'll be going for). And the Hufflepuff thing you mentioned... I honestly didn't even notice it. I really don't mind Hufflepuffs, but I suppose I have them all stereotyped a bit in my head and they just come off that way when I write them. I'll try to be a bit more careful about that in the future. **Wishing on Fireflies- **Interesting prediction about Maddie's temper coming back to bite her. I guess you'll just have to wait and see how that goes. Thanks for taking the time to review. **xxthethieflordx****x- **No Azaria this chapter, but I promise there'll be more of her eventually. Other than that, thanks so much for the great review, and I hope you'll continue to enjoy the story.


	7. Strange Happenings

Maddie was scrambling to finish Le Morte d'Arthur for her Muggle Studies class- they were in a Muggle literature unit, and she was going to pull her hair out if she read about someone getting slaughtered or killed or speared with a bloody lance one more time- when she ran straight into Tom Riddle. It was obviously her fault, what with her nose being in her book and everything, but he immediately steadied her and said, "My apologies Madeline. I did not see you."

"And I was watching where I was going _through _my book," said Maddie with a snort. "I know you go out of your way to be polite, but sometimes you're a bit ridiculous. Now, if you'll pardon me, I'm afraid I've only got an hour to whittle away forty pages, and-"

"King Arthur and Mordred kill each other," Tom said offhandedly. "The end."

Maddie blinked, shocked that Lord Voldemort of all people would know the ending to a Muggle novel off the top of his head. Then she remembered that he grew up in a Muggle orphanage where reading tatty old books was probably all he had to do.

It was almost sad, thinking up Tom as a little, unbelievably intelligent dark-haired boy holed up in an old building without any friends or parents, and probably not enough food either.

"Oh. Well, that makes my life easier then," Maddie said quickly, pushing any little inkling of pity she felt for the Slytherin out of her head. She snapped her book shut and glanced at Tom. "What brings you all the way up here anyway? You're almost at Gryffindor tower."

"I was looking for you," Tom said.

Maddie frowned. Those weren't words anyone especially wanted to hear come out of Lord Voldemort's mouth.

"Why?"

He reached into his bag and pulled out a set of her school robes. Maddie opened her mouth to call him every synonym of creepy stalker she could think of, but Tom spoke before she got the chance.

"You left them in Slughorn's office Saturday. I could not find you yesterday, so I am returning them now."

"Oh." Maddie slowly took the robes from Tom and studied them for a moment. They didn't seem to have been cursed or tampered with at all. He really must've been getting into his 'rope Maddie in' thing. Although she was pretty darn sure Dumbledore wouldn't give two hoots if Tom did manage to sway her to the dark side at the moment. She hadn't had Transfiguration yet- that was after Muggle Studies- but she was positive that the class wasn't going to go well at all. "Well. Um, thanks."

"It's no problem, truly."

"I appreciate it all the same."

The moseyed on in silence for a bit, Maddie wondering why Tom was still bothering to walk with her at all, when he asked, "Where were you heading?"

Maddie had actually ditched the common room so she could read away from Ignatius's concerned expression and Charlus's probing eyes, but she wasn't about to tell Tom that.

"Oh. I was just wandering. I can't sit still and read. Especially not bloody Thomas Mallory." She looked at the worn paperback in her hands and scowled. "It's ridiculous. I figured Muggle studies would entail learning how to use a vacuum cleaner or telephone… if I'd have known we'd be reading Muggle books from fifty million years ago, I think I would have stayed in Arithimancy."

Tom raised a brow.

"You don't like Muggle literature at all?"

"Eh. I like some kinds. Just not this story in particular."

Tom pursed his lips, but said, "I myself have always thought King Arthur's legend to be intriguing."

"It's an endlessly long tale about a bunch of dreadful people who do dreadful things." _Then again, _Maddie thought with a wry smile, _that's probably why you like it so much. _

"There is more to the novel than that," said Tom. "Perhaps a Gryffindor would be too naïve to think so, but Mallory does a splendid job of accurately describing human nature." He smiled humorously. "Lancelot is considered superior in character to all others, and yet he betrays and manipulates his best friend. Arthur is supposedly good, but he's clearly a simpleton, and it is Mordred, the unwanted bastard, who triumphs in the end. Though he dies, he still comes out above the others in bringing down a kingdom thought to be unconquerable; he's the only one who accomplished his goal."

Maddie thought on his last observation, or at least the unwanted bastard part of it, for a long moment. The illegitimate son of a father who cast him off and a mother who wasn't there for him, Maddie couldn't help but wonder if Tom maybe related to Mordred a bit, if that's why his voice turned almost respectful when he spoke of him.

Or maybe he was just respectful of the whole 'killing his father' thing. That seemed more likely, as Maddie really couldn't imagine Tom paging through the boring old tome and thinking, 'Golly gee, I like this fella. He seems a lot like me'. That was something normal humans did, and Tom Riddle was anything but a normal human.

"Eh," said Maddie. "At least Lancelot and Arthur had friends who all cared about them in their own, if not slightly dishonest, way. Mordred just had minions and a father whose apologies he refused to accept, and then he apparently got himself killed anyway, so… I think he lost worse than Arthur or anyone else. I pity him more than anything, I think."

Tom frowned.

"That's ridiculous."

"So is saying he triumphs. Would you really rather die friendless and hated like Mordred than like a hero as Arthur did?"

"I'd rather," Tom said plainly, and Maddie shivered at his matter-of-fact tone, "not die at all."

"Funny you should say that," Maddie said. "You know, it was the single perfect character in the story, the best and happiest and all that, that went and embraced death on his own. Not that Sir Galahad wasn't a bit irritatingly flawless, but you have to admit that anyone would rather have his fate than that of any of the other characters."

"Anyone?" asked Tom. He laughed. "I'm afraid I would not qualify as anyone, then. Perhaps if Galahad's fool God existed I would be more willing to die, but I don't believe in a higher power. Death is death, not the means to a bigger end as was implied in the book."

"I don't know," said Maddie slowly. "It seems as though there's got to be something out there. Otherwise there wouldn't be much purpose to anything, would there? Life would just be… doing stuff, and then we'd die and more people would do stuff, and it would all be a huge, meaningless circle."

"I disagree. Meaning comes through accomplishments and power and success during life, not by any ridiculous fantasies of what supposedly happens after."

Maddie sighed, and then laughed at herself for doing so. She was having a chat with Tom Riddle about the freaking afterlife. That she'd even consider having any chance of success was ridiculous, and even just the notion that she was having this discussion with _him _of all people made her want to burst into mildly inappropriate laughter. It was something Teddy Lupin would parody, complete with realistic voices and facial features.

_"Lord Voldemort," he would mock, "do you believe in something more?" _

_ His face would change and shift until it was a caricature of Tom's, and he would reply in an over-exaggerated hiss, "More than my own unstoppable power and obvious superiority over you inferior humans? What more could there possibly be?" _

Tom gave Maddie an odd look- probably because of her random laughter- and Maddie replied, "Sorry. I just find it a bit funny. You know, that we were having a totally normal conversation and then it went off in this direction. Never mind that, though. I say we should agree to disagree and switch topics before I lose my temper and we have a repeat of the hair-loss incident."

"I'd be more frightened if I had any hair left to lose," Tom said dryly.

"This is true. I _could _melt your wig though."

"I have it charmed against anything you could possibly do to it," said Tom. "And in any case, I need to be going. I still have to return to the Head's common room for my books before Arithimancy. I suppose I'll see you in Transfiguration."

Maddie cringed outright. She'd almost forgot about Dumbledore and the way she chewed him out, and, most troubling, _why _she'd chewed him out.

_What if something's happening right now, something that'll keep me stuck back here with Lord Voldemort forever? _

She tried and failed to push the thought out of her head.

"Yeah," she said to Tom weakly. "I suppose I'll see you then."

…

Transfiguration sucked every bit as much as Maddie had been expecting. Dumbledore didn't so much as glance in her direction, and he looked a good deal worse than she'd ever seen him. His skin was too pale and there were dark, ugly shadows under his eyes… he almost looked like the old man in the portrait in the future, except his eyes weren't twinkling and he didn't appear to be nearly as healthy.

He even let class out five minutes early, and even though Dumbledore was notoriously lighthearted, that was odd behavior, even for him.

"That went better than was to be expected," Ignatius said as they hurried out of the room. "He wasn't horrible to you."

Maddie shook her head.

"It would've been better if he had been," she said. "At least then he'd have acknowledged I was alive."

"He'll come around eventually," said Charlus. He didn't know what was going on, and Maddie wasn't about to volunteer any information. Maybe she'd feel up to it after a while, but for now he was going to have to settle for Ignatius's explanation that she'd had a spat with Dumbledore over a personal issue. It wasn't that she didn't trust Charlus, but she didn't feel right dumping her problems on a guy she'd known for three weeks. If Ignatius hadn't caught her at a bad time, she doubted she would've said anything to him about it either. "It isn't like Professor Dumbledore to hold a grudge."

"Oh, I'm not so sure," said Maddie. "I kind of hit him where it hurts." She forced a smile. "No matter. I'm sure-"

"Good afternoon, Madeline."

Maddie stopped mid-sentence as _Atius Lestrange _walked past them with a smile- an honest-to-God smile- on his face. He didn't wait for any reply on Maddie's part, but Charlus, Ignatius, and she all froze in place to stare at him as he disappeared down the corridor.

All Maddie could think was, _What on earth did Tom do to him_?

"That was…" Charlus started.

"Disturbing? Frightening? Unsettling?" tried Maddie.

"I was going to say odd, but those work too. Any idea what that was about?"

"Er… kind of," Maddie admitted reluctantly. "I was serving detention with Slughorn before the last Slug Club meeting, and he and Tom were there… and you know Atius and all that 'blood traitor' junk he says to me, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Well he was doing that, and Tom snapped at him and... _warned _Atius to control his tongue."

Charlus snorted.

"Perfect Riddle," he said sarcastically. "Of course he'd come to your aid. They're screwing with you. I'm sure of it."

"I don't know," said Ignatius slowly. He didn't look happy. "I think Riddle might genuinely have been defending you, Mads. The two of you talk often enough."

"He never takes me seriously though," said Maddie. "And I still think he hates me for making his hair fall out. Just the way he looks at me sometimes… it's like he'd love to roast me over an open fire and eat me alive."

Ignatius chuckled, but shook his head.

"As creative as that is, it isn't like Riddle. I think you're wrong about him hating you anyway. Heck, I've got half a mind to say he's starting to fancy you."

"Barf," said Charles. "Riddle fancying someone? That's a perverse thought. Riddle doesn't fancy anyone; the bloke is asexual."

"Pardon?" Maddie choked out.

"Every girl at Hogwarts is dying to get a piece of him," said Charlus, "and he has never had a single girlfriend, hasn't shown even the slightest interest in anything female. Add in his inhumanly perfect behavior, and I have cause to believe that he's a sexless extraterrestrial being who's attracted to nothing but himself."

"And you called _my _theory perverse?" Ignatius spluttered.

"I don't know," said Maddie speculatively. "Atius just _smiled _at me. After that, I'm starting to think anything is possible." She looked at Ignatius. "_Except_ Tom fancying me. I think I know what he wants with me- and no, I can't tell you- but it has absolutely nothing to do with him liking me. And even if he did have a thing for me- which he doesn't- I'd sooner eat glass than willingly go out with that poofter."

"You're sure?" Ignatius asked.

"Merlin's beard, yes," said Maddie. "Now come on. Being blatantly ignored by my uncle was quite a lot of work, and I need a nap."

Any conversation concerning Tom and Maddie immediately- and thankfully- died.

…

"Do you and your sister not get along?" Charlus asked at supper later that evening.

Maddie's eyes darted up in surprise. Her housemates _never _mentioned Azaria; it'd become a well-known fact that the sisters had very little to do with each other, but no one really thought on it. One was a Slytherin and the other a Gryffindor. People didn't expect them to spend time together.

"Uh. I don't know," said Maddie cautiously. "Why?"

"Because I haven't seen you speak to her since you've gotten here," he said. He craned his neck a bit, and Maddie figured he was looking at Azaria, who was probably sitting by herself at the end of Slytherin table, just like she had every single day since they'd gone back in time. No Slytherin wanted to interact with the niece of Gryffindor's head of house, and though Tom probably could've gotten them to do so if he really wanted, he didn't seem all that interested in the more introverted of the Dumbledore sisters.

"We just… don't have much in common. She's never around all that much anyway," said Maddie.

Charlus stuck a piece of meat in his mouth, and, not bothering to wait until he was finished chewing, said, "She's probably spending all her time hiding from her house. They're downright nasty to her."

Maddie fidgeted uncomfortably and, after a moment, muttered, "She's strong. She'll be fine."

Unable to help herself, she glanced over her shoulder at the Slytherin table. Azaria was at the very end, stooped down over her plate and not eating anything at all. It didn't seem like she ever ate, and now that Maddie was looking a bit more closely, the other girl did look skinnier than before…

Maddie shook her head. She imagined she'd lost a quite a bit of weight herself after getting tossed back seventy years in the past. It was stressful. That didn't mean anything was actually wrong.

"You're sure?" asked Charlus. He frowned a bit. "She really doesn't look fine."

"Who doesn't look fine?" Ignatius asked, joining in the conversation as he plopped down heavily next to Maddie. He immediately reached across her plate to grab a slice of toast from further down the table, 'accidentally' shoving his armpit in her face as he did so. Maddie pretended to gag, and Ignatius made a point of moving away from her as slowly as possible, all while Charlus looked at them like they were small children. It was a frighteningly Tom-like expression.

"Are you quite done?" asked Charlus once Ignatius finally had his arm back at his side.

"I suppose. Now who were you talking about when I got here?"

"Maddie's sister."

"She's okay," Maddie insisted.

"Why do I sense that you two don't get along?" asked Ignatius.

"See?"

Maddie sighed.

"We're just _different_. She's a Slytherin and I'm a Gryffindor, and we really don't understand each other all that well. Now, if you don't mind, I need to eat before my food gets cold, so…"

"As if you have a problem speaking with your mouth full," said Charlus.

"You're one to talk," Maddie muttered. She speared one of her carrots and stuffed it into her mouth. Unable to help herself, she looked back over her shoulder again as she chewed, intending to sneak another look at her 'sister'... and found herself looking straight at the stomach of an evil dark lord instead.

Maddie jumped in surprise and inhaled suddenly, which unfortunately resulted in a piece of carrot getting caught in her throat. She started coughing violently while Tom watched on coolly, one brow raised slightly, his lips curved up into an infuriating smirk. Maddie finally managed to dislodge the vegetable and took several gasping breaths before she collected herself enough to glare at Tom and huff, "There should be a rule against Slytherins skulking up to the Gryffindor table without announcing their arrival."

"Don't encourage him to announce his arrival," Charlus said drolly. "There'll be trumpets next time he comes."

Tom smiled good-naturedly.

"I like that idea, Potter. Perhaps I will ask Lestrange and Yaxley if they'd be willing to learn the instrument for me."

Maddie snorted.

"I bet you'd just _love _that."

"I was jesting. I still find myself entirely lost as to why you have such a low opinion of me."

"I think it has something to do with your insistence upon calling me Madeline."

"Haven't we already discussed this?"

"I'm afraid that we'll continue to discuss it until you quit acting like a stubborn Hufflepuff. You know, if you were a good Slytherin, you'd start calling me Maddie to gain my approval, and then, when you need something from me, it'll be much more easy to manipulate me into going along with it."

"I would never lower myself to such deception."

"Of course not."

Tom sighed. "I'm afraid we've strayed off topic. I simply ventured over here to ask whether you would be so kind as to take a turn about the grounds with me. There is nothing suspicious about that, is there?"

Maddie blinked at him. A turn about the grounds? Did the guy think this was a Jane Austen novel?

"Aaaactually-"

"Madeline," said Tom exasperatedly. "Please?"

"Why?"

"I wish to speak with you about something," said Tom.

"Um. Alright then," said Maddie. She really didn't want to, but going along with whatever game Tom was playing seemed a much safer bet than trying to refuse him. She grabbed one last bun and ate it quickly, then waved halfheartedly to Charlus and Ignatius. "I guess I'll see you later."

Tom and Maddie left the Great Hall, and then the school itself, in silence. It was just beginning to get dark out, and the waxing moon, barely visible in the twilight, shined tauntingly at Maddie, reminding her that she had only a bit over a week until her next transformation, and she had yet to so much as attempt brewing a batch of Wolfsbane.

She glared hatefully at the moon before forcing her eyes back to the ground.

Tom and she continued on without a word for several minutes. After a while, Maddie pulled a hair-tie out of her pocket and began twisting it in her fingers, concentrating on the rubbery band rather than the impossibly awkward silence.

Finally, after much too long, Maddie offhandedly pointed out, "You aren't doing much talking for someone who insisted upon speaking with me."

Tom paused.

"I was considering how to phrase my question without sounding probing or offensive."

"Considering that you're having to work so hard to figure out how to make it sound better than it is," said Maddie, "I'm assuming that whatever you're trying to say _is _probing and offensive."

"Only if you take it as such."

"Tom," said Maddie, "just spit it out."

Tom frowned, putting on the guise of looking uncomfortable. Maddie doubted he was. Tom Riddle didn't get uncomfortable.

"I was simply wondering," he ventured carefully, "whether you have had a recent disagreement with your uncle. I could not help but notice that he did not so much as glance at you during Transfiguration this afternoon, and though you appear to be superficially fine, I get the impression that something troubles you."

Maddie screeched to a halt.

Tom Riddle was too observant for his own good. Like Azaria said, he most certainly wanted her on his side to give him some minuscule advantage over Dumbledore, and it was only natural that he'd see this as the perfect opportunity to make his move. Maddie hadn't been visibly upset- or at least she didn't think she'd been- but apparently Tom had seen something, had noticed Dumbledore's odd behavior towards her, because he timed his seemingly innocent pounce just about as perfectly as possible.

Maddie wasn't tempted, knew better than to trust him, but it still disconcerted her to know just how much Tom Riddle saw.

"It was a small disagreement is all," said Maddie. "Nothing major."

"If you're sure," said Tom. "I merely wished to let you know that, should you need someone to listen to or help you, I would be most willing. I consider you a rather close… friend, though you clearly do not reciprocate that friendship, and I am vexed to see you so troubled."

_Good lord, kill me now. _

"While I appreciate your concern," Maddie said, "it really is unnecessary."

"Of course. I will mention, however, that I do understand your plight. While I respect your uncle, he can be rather… eccentric at times, and I occasionally find his behavior downright troubling. I mean no offense when I say that he tends to view his own opinions as superior and better thought out than those of his acquaintances, and from my own observation, he has an infuriatingly subtle way of convincing others to bend to his own devices."

Aaaand Tom Riddle hit the nail on the head yet again. If Maddie didn't know better, she'd be blubbering all over him about her evil uncle and his stupid shortcomings, most of which Tom had outlined absolutely perfectly.

"Everyone has faults," Maddie said instead.

"But his effect many more than himself, and it's disturbing, how he can write off so many of his actions as noble when they are nothing less than manipulative. Surely you understand, Madeline. Friends of mine have told me that he went so far as to cut off all contact with your father because of a difference in opinion."

Maddie wished she had earplugs. Another truth, or at least she gathered it was from that biography Skeeter had written. Heck, 'difference in opinion' was a nice euphemism for what really happened with Ariana and Grindelwald and that whole huge mess.

Tom was doing a very, very good job at making her more angry at Dumbledore than she already was, and Maddie shook her head fiercely. Dumbledore was in a tough spot and he was making a big, selfish mistake, but he was still a good man. A million times better than Tom. Besides, Tom wasn't trying to help her, not really. He was trying to distance her from her uncle and turn her to the dark side.

"I think they've forgotten about those petty arguments," Maddie said weakly. "Uncle Al took Azaria and me in, anyway."

"In a situation where the alternative was to throw you onto the streets?"

That was true. Although considering neither of them were his real nieces, his actions were a small bit more admirable than what Tom was suggesting.

"It sounds to me," said Maddie, "that you're trying to destroy my good opinion of my uncle entirely, and I would appreciate it if you would stop."

Tom looked affronted.

"I assure you, I am doing no sure thing. If I have offended you in any way, I apologize. My only goal was to offer you my support."

"I would have appreciated it a heck of a lot more if you kept your nose out of our argument altogether. It's none of your business, and, quite frankly, a bit of a disagreement isn't going to convince me to start tearing my uncle apart behind his back with some smooth-talking Slytherin I hardly know."

The affronted look Tom had been wearing deepened, and he looked genuinely troubled by Maddie's words.

"I was not attempting to 'tear him apart behind his back,' as you would have it," Tom insisted, "and I most definitely would not say that we 'hardly know' each other."

"I don't know where you're from," said Maddie. "I don't know any of your hobbies, who your parents are, what your childhood was like. I have no idea what you like to do in your free time, or what your hopes and dreams happen to be. The only thing I know about your beliefs if that you don't think there's an afterlife, and even then, I have no idea why you think that way. Hell, we've spoken almost every day for the past three weeks, and I can't consider you my friend because almost everything we talk about is meaningless: books and classes and the weather. Not you. _Never_ you."

Tom stiffened immediately.

"There's nothing to tell," he said, and though there was no obvious warning in his voice, his tone clearly told her to back off.

"Well, I can hardly trust you if you don't let me get to know you," said Maddie, sure that that'd keep him away. "I don't dislike you- although you are a bit of an arrogant arse at times- but really, I'm not about to start sharing my problems with someone who won't even tell me the names of his parents." They'd completed a circuit of the grounds and were nearing the front door of the castle once more. Maddie jogged ahead of him a bit, intending to leave him completely behind, but she looked over her shoulder at the last moment and said, "Although I'd be open to having a little tête-à-tête whenever you want. I mean, if you wish to remedy the situation."

Tom looked at her in absolute disbelief, and Maddie shot him a broad smile.

Hopefully he'd back off now that he knew she wasn't interested in blindly following after him. Especially if he kept speaking out against Dumbledore like that. Maddie knew enough not to trust anything Tom Riddle said, but when she agreed with the argument he was making, well… it made it a lot harder to totally discount his words.

Maddie shook her head. Dumbledore wasn't a bad guy, and he most certainly wasn't evil like Tom. That she could even consider taking the dark lord's side over Dumbledore's was utterly ridiculous. Pretty soon, they'd get over their little argument, and whatever little seed of doubt that Tom had planted in her head would wither away entirely.

Maddie pushed her way into the castle. She immediately swore she felt someone watching her, but shrugged off the odd sensation. It was late, and she was disconcerted from her talk with Tom. That was it.

She'd just about managed to convince herself when an oddly familiar chuckle sounded behind her. Maddie whirled around, wand raised, only to find no one there.

Then the door squeaked open again, and Tom walked through, frustration clear on his features. His eyes landed on Maddie immediately, and he forgot himself for just long enough to show his surprise before he worked his features back into her blank mask.

"There's someone here," Maddie said immediately. "I swear, someone just laughed at me."

Tom raised a brow. "There are ghosts all over the castle, Madeline-"

"No, I _know _it wasn't a ghost, and I don't think it's a student either... Have you ever been in a situation where something just felt _wrong_? Because that's what this feels like." She looked around slowly. "It's like someone's here who isn't supposed to be..."

"Impossible. There are wards all around the grounds. Unless someone from inside the school-"

Whoever it was chuckled again, and Maddie squealed in surprise when Tom pulled out his wand in a fluid, perfect movement and said, "Stupefy," so smoothly that it was almost a continuation of his previous sentence. The curse hit the exact area from which the laugh seemed to originate, but there was no one there when the smoke cleared.

"Tom..."

"It's a ghost," he said immediately, his words just forceful enough to tell Maddie that he didn't believe himself. "Don't bother saying anything to anyone; with Grindelwald gaining power, Dippet would overreact over nothing." He looked straight at Maddie. "There is _nothing _for you to worry about."

"But-"

Tom grabbed her arm and gave her a gentle tug in the direction of Gryffindor tower. Maddie numbly followed after him.

"Come on. I'll walk you to your common room."

"It wasn't a ghost," Maddie insisted.

"You have no way of knowing that," said Tom. Maddie opened her mouth to keep arguing, but he silenced her with a dirty look. It was late, the corridor was empty, and there was no way she could protect herself if he did decide to do something to her. As much as Maddie wanted to push the issues, she wasn't stupid enough to do so.

"Alright," she finally said. "It was a ghost."

…

**A/N- **

**Sorry this took a bit longer than usual. Track season started, and I got an idea for an original story that sucked up quite a bit of my time, but no worries. I'm back now, and hopefully weekly updates will return. I do apologize for the start of this chapter if no one's read Le Morte d'Arthur and found their conversation confusing, but I tried not to put too much about the book in there and focus on their opinions instead. If anyone needs clearing up on any of it, just mention it in a review, and I'll PM an explanation. **

**I don't have anything else to say other than that. Thanks for reading, and please review. **

**Thanks to- **

**AwkwardWriter1997- **Thanks so much for the review, and I'm glad you like Maddie so far. **rose013- **I appreciate you taking the time to review. Sorry the chapter took so long to get up, but the support is nice all the same, and I'm thrilled you're enjoying the story so far. I hope you continue to find it interesting. **Someone's Charm- **It's probably a good thing you like the extra attention being paid to events going on outside of Hogwarts at the time, because I can already say that it's going to play a relatively big part in the plot of the story. Somewhat the World War II aspect, but a lot on the wizarding war of the time. I can kind of understand that a lot of time travel fics- like Prejudice and Pride- wouldn't focus on the war(s) because England wasn't much affected by Grindelwald, but I also think, realistically, he'd have a huge effect on everything going on. I almost can't understand how he's considered a lesser dark wizard than Voldemort when Grindelwald took over all of Europe, and Voldemort only had England. Anyway, I'm also glad you think Maddie's growing a bit more substantial, although her character still has a lot of changing left to do. Other than that, thanks again for the great review, and I hope you enjoyed this last chapter even with the smaller amount of attention going into plot building.

**~bballgirl32~**


	8. A Sickening Suspicion

Maddie was mad at herself.

Beyond mad at herself, really.

She'd known it was foolish, stupid, and irresponsible, but she pushed off her attempt at brewing Wolfsbane until the last possible moment. It had been so easy, so blissfully, wonderfully easy to pretend that she was normal, that her change wasn't coming closer every minute of every day, and now the full moon was five days away and she _needed _to get the potion brewed.

The only problem was that she'd never made Wolfsbane in her life. She knew how it was done, had watched the process dozens of times, but it was a complicated potion that was way beyond her ability to brew.

Despite being all too aware of this knowledge, Maddie still tried to get it right. After her mid-evening conversation with Tom reminded her of the upcoming full moon, she went straight to the Room of Requirements after classes the next day, where she did her best to brew a batch of the potion. Unfortunately, Maddie wasn't halfway into the process before it started bubbling ominously, and she was forced to vanish it. Another attempt that night didn't turn out any better, and neither did any of the four she tried the next day.

She was good at potions, but apparently she wasn't good enough. It was sickeningly obvious that she needed help, but it was just as obvious that her options were very, very limited.

There was Dumbledore, obviously, but she wasn't about to ask him a favor, not when he still behaved almost as though he were afraid of her, even after he pulled her aside and said he accepted her apology letter. Dippet would be another option, but he wasn't the type to blindly follow a student's orders, no matter how much she begged. Slughorn would be another possibility, but given that he treated her like a piece of gum that he couldn't quite get off the bottom of his shoe, she knew all too well how he'd react if she asked him to brew a random potion for her.

That left one person who Maddie knew would be able to do it. One person who was very obviously trying to gain her trust, and who would no doubt do nearly any favor she asked as long as it was within reason.

The only issue with this person was that he would ask questions, and he wouldn't stop until they were answered. He'd also be the type to analyze every ingredient of the potion to try to figure out what its purpose was, not to mention that he'd expect something in return for his help.

Tom would do it. She knew she could give him the instructions and ask him to brew the potion, and he'd find her with the finished product within a few hours, smiling charmingly and acting like the saint everyone thought he was. Except then he'd start dropping smooth, calculating questions. He'd figure out that the potion was some kind of repressor easily enough- even Maddie would be able to look at the ingredients and see that- and he'd innocuously ask what she needed it for, where she'd heard of it, and what its purpose was.

And Maddie wouldn't be able to answer at all, would be forced to make stuff up or try to lie, which she _couldn't do_, and then Tom would get annoyed, would look at her like he did sometimes, like he wanted nothing more than to forget about his ridiculous mission to draft her onto his side and just off her instead, and Maddie would probably get nervous enough to blurt out some stupid bit of truth, and Tom would analyze it until he figured out her secret, and then he'd probably kill her or use her or do something awful, because everyone knew how Lord Voldemort felt about werewolves.

Maddie knew it was stupid, knew it was suicidal to ask Tom for this favor that she so desperately needed. Except she had no choice. She knew that she couldn't go out to the forest again. She was lucky she hadn't been caught the first time, and showing up in the hospital wing in such awful condition two months in a row would raise suspicions. Then there was always the worry that she'd hurt someone other than herself. Hagrid explored the forest on a consistent basis, she knew, and it wasn't exactly a rare thing for students to sneak out either. And what if someone saw her leaving and followed her, and she attacked them then?

She _needed _the potion. It was stupid and dangerous not to have it, and obviously she couldn't brew it herself, and no one else was going to do it, no one except for Tom, so…

She had to ask.

Maddie frowned and looked at the piece of parchment in her hands, the directions for brewing Wolfsbane written across it in her messy scrawl. She'd double-checked everything until she was _sure _it looked exactly like she remembered it, had gone over all the information again and again to ensure that nothing she'd written could possible connect the potion to lycanthropy.

Nothing did, not that she could see.

Then again, Maddie was painfully aware that Tom saw a heck of a lot more than she did.

It didn't matter, though. Not really. She _needed_ to ask him to do this, and that terrifying thought rang loudly in her head as she tentatively approached the Head's common room. Her hands were shaking, and the paper she was holding trembled weakly as a result. She was practically handing him her secret, not to mention asking for his _help_, help that would come at a price, as much as she wished otherwise.

After way too short a time, Maddie reached the portrait of the four founders, all of whom were sitting together in what she recognized as an early version of the Great Hall, eating merrily like their lives weren't all the big huge soap opera they came across as in the history books. It was just like Ignatius said it would be when she asked where the Head's common room was, saying she had to talk to Tom about a potions assignment. It wasn't a total lie, and he believed her easily.

Now there she was. Right in front of the room. All she had to do was knock.

She didn't want to knock. She really, really didn't want to knock.

As it turned out, she didn't have to. The doorway swung open while she was still working up her courage, and Piper Constadine walked out, her ever-present smile on her face, dark eyes shining prettily in the light that filtered from the room. The smile turned into a confused frown when she saw Maddie standing there, gripping her piece of paper like a lifeline and looking as though she were about to take on a dementor without a wand.

"Maddie?" said Piper, furrowing her brow. "Are you… here for Riddle?"

She swallowed and nodded, and Piper, still looking as though Maddie was wearing a clown hat and dancing the samba, slowly stepped aside and gestured for the other girl to go through.

"Then head right in. He's in his room... I'd warn you that he usually doesn't like visitors, but something tells me he won't mind if you talk to him. So... go right ahead, I guess."

"Thanks," said Maddie, still not quite working up the courage to move. Only when she noticed Piper's expression morphing into a look of concern did she realize how odd she must look, and, reminding herself that she was a Gryffindor and Tom was nothing to be afraid of, she finally got her legs working well enough to slip in past the Head Girl. "Um. See you later, I guess."

'Yeah. Bye," Piper replied. She looked like she was going to say something else, but only shot Maddie one more disbelieving look before disappearing down the corridor.

Taking a deep, choking breath, Maddie made herself move slowly towards the door with Tom's name on it, her feet dragging weakly across the thickly carpeted floor. It took her a lot longer than it should have to make it the few feet to his side of the room, and even longer to scrounge up the courage to raise a hand and knock bravely on his door.

The sound echoed painfully loudly in the quiet room, and Maddie's heart thudded in her chest as she heard light footsteps pad across the room. She felt Tom pause on the other side, could almost sense him mentally going over who on earth would dare visit him during his free time, then dismiss the hypothesizing in favor of simply seeing who it was.

Maddie half expected him to be surprised at her presence, but instead he only raised a dark brow when he briskly opened the door to reveal her standing outside his room, fidgeting almost ridiculously and doubtlessly looking every bit the stupid child he seemed to see her as.

Right on cue, his lips curved up into that stupid, infuriatingly condescending smirk. Maddie actually found herself relaxing somewhat at the familiar gesture. He didn't look angry that she'd approached him, didn't appear to even be annoyed. It wasn't any different than talking to him in the hallways, not really. He even looked almost slightly less intimidating than usual, maybe pleased that she'd come to him on her own.

Good. It didn't look like she was going to die quite yet.

Maybe after he gained some kind of idea as to what she wanted from him, but it was reassuring that she'd at least get the chance to voice her request.

"Madeline," said Tom, allowing himself to display some amount of surprise. "I must admit, I'm rather surprised to be seeing you here."

"Er… I'm rather surprised that I'm here myself," she said honestly. "It's just… I kind of need you to help me with something, but... my request is going to be a bit vague, and there are some questions I really won't be able to answer, and I'll tell you as much as I can, but… you're smart, and I'm not smart enough, and this is somewhat important."

Tom stared at her for a very long time, almost as though he wasn't sure what the best way to approach her statement was, but eventually he allowed his posture to relax somewhat and said, "I cannot promise my help, but perhaps if you were to explain what you want…?"

"I want you to brew a potion for me," she said, handing him the slip of paper. Tom fell silent as he attempted to make out the directions, his brow furrowing in an uncharacteristically childish expression as he struggled to decipher the worst of her handwriting. Despite her nervousness, Maddie felt herself biting back a smile. It was almost unfair, how he looked incomparably charming even when he was confused. Maybe even more so than usual, because she could tell the expression was a rarely genuine one, and it was almost cute, in a way…

Then he finished reading and looked back up at her, his face returning to its normal state of smooth lines and unreadable features, that same awful, fake smile stretching across his lips once more.

"What gives you the impression that I can brew this? It's an advanced level potion, and-"

"I've seen you work, Tom," said Maddie. "I may think you're a bit arrogant, but it's not like it's unwarranted. I'm not asking if you _can _do it; I know the answer to that. I'm asking if you will."

"What do you need it for?" he asked slowly. "It's clearly supposed to inhibit _something_- the frogs' eyes and bicorn horn make that clear enough- but I cannot place what, exactly, you are attempting to suppress. It has to be something powerful because this potion is almost ridiculously potent, and yet there are not any toxic ingredients in it, leading me to believe you wish someone to ingest it… Madeline, did you come up with this yourself?"

"Um. No," she said quickly. "My father made it up."

Tom's expression was one of extreme doubt, and there was blatant interest written all over his features when he said, "Do you realize that anyone who takes this would most likely slip into a temporary coma?"

"I'm not going to feed it to a human being," said Maddie honestly. "Really. I just… I need it for something."

"_Something_," said Tom dryly. "I appreciate your frankness."

"Sarcasm?"

"Yes, Madeline. That was sarcasm."

"Does that mean you aren't going to brew it?" she asked worriedly.

"I really do wish I could help you," he said, his voice creepily gentle, "but I'm Head Boy, and this is a potentially dangerous potion. Not only would it take up much of my evening, but it would also require me to blatantly disregard Slughorn's rules, and-"

He honestly wasn't going to do it, and Maddie, unable to accept that answer, cut him off by doing something impossibly, unacceptably stupid.

"Do it, or I'm telling Dippet about what we saw Monday night."

Tom froze midsentence, and the righteous look on his face crumpled momentarily into one of furious disbelief before he took a shaking breath and schooled his features. He didn't do a very good job of it, though. Even Maddie could see the way that this face looked about ready to crack, how he was nearly shaking with anger at her sheer audacity.

People didn't blackmail Tom Riddle and get away with it, and she was terrifyingly aware of that fact.

"Are you _blackmailing _me?" he asked, his voice trembling in an effort to repress his anger.

"No. I'm simply stating a fact. I need this potion, and, for whatever reason, you need that bit of information to remain secret. If I don't get what I need, you don't get what you need." She raised her eyes to meet his and tried to keep her hands from shaking. "I really don't think it's that complicated, Tom."

"You don't realize what you're doing, Madeline," he said slowly. "If you tell Dippet that someone is in the castle, he will _shut down the school_. You won't have a place to go-"

Maddie's eyes widened as she realized for the first time why, exactly, Tom had been so concerned about the presence remaining a secret. He was right, she realized. If Dippet thought someone was in the school who shouldn't be, especially now that Grindelwald was on such a rampage, he would have no choice but to evacuate the school. It could be a spy, a terrorist, a psychotic soldier who was determined to burn Hogwarts to the ground.

But Tom would rather be able to stay at Hogwarts, to remain in the one home he ever had, and Maddie held back a smirk at the knowledge that she had him better than she ever could have hoped.

"No," she said, interrupting him. "_You _won't have a place to go. I can live with Uncle Al, probably even stay here, but you'd have to go back to wherever you came from, and obviously you don't want to do that, so please, _please _just go along with this. You won't regret it. I swear."

Tom gritted his teeth, his hands clenched into fists. There was a vein in his forehead that was straining against his pale skin, and if Maddie looked closely, she swore she saw crimson flashing in dangerously narrowed eyes. She was terrified, ready to call it a day and run, when Tom finally managed to say, his voice low and dangerous despite his best efforts, "Where do you expect me to brew this?"

Maddie let out a long, low breath.

"Have you ever heard of the Room of Requirements?"

Tom nodded, not asking how she knew of it. Doubtlessly, he figured Dumbledore must've said something. Either way, he accepted her answer and said, "Very well then. I will brew your potion, as long as you swear you won't say anything to Dippet. What we saw… it is likely nothing, Madeline. You should have forgotten it right away."

"I'm not an idiot, Tom," she replied icily. "You know that very well. It's… I don't know who or what it was, but it wasn't supposed to be here. But don't worry. I won't say anything. I just won't forget about it either."

"Good enough, I suppose," he said coolly. "Now run along. I apparently have a potion to brew."

"Thank you," Maddie said.

Tom looked down at her with poorly concealed ire and replied, "I had no choice."

Then he waved her off again, and Maddie left hurriedly, torn between relief that he was going to help her and terror that he wasn't going to let her get away with manipulating him. Tom Riddle was the type who always got the last laugh, and Maddie couldn't help but look over her shoulder in paranoia as she scurried back to the Gryffindor common room, already worrying that something awful was going to happen.

People didn't coerce Tom Riddle into something and get away with it. No matter how badly he wanted a Dumbledore on his side, he wasn't going to let her off easy.

She was sickeningly positive of that.

…

The next day, Maddie was just heading in the direction of the Great Hall for supper when someone firmly grabbed onto her forearm and began leading her in the opposite direction. She was momentarily startled and tripped slightly when her muscles protested at the somewhat rough treatment, but then she recognized how abnormally long the fingers on her arm were, and after looking up, realized that Tom was the one dragging her off to Merlin knew were.

Her first thought was that he was going to assault and/or kill her, but it'd be ridiculous to let himself be seen going off with her if that was the case. The second, more viable option then popped into her head, and Maddie began jogging to keep up with Tom, assuming that he was going to give her her potion.

"You know," said Maddie, panting slightly as she struggled to keep up with Tom's ridiculously long strides, "a normal person would generally _ask _someone to follow him instead of just dragging them off to a random, undisclosed location. See, what you're doing right now, that's what's generally referred to as kidnapping-"

"After what you pulled yesterday, I wouldn't be so confident that's not what's going on," Tom replied in a somewhat light voice, and even though he was obviously trying to make it sound teasing, Maddie really didn't think it sounded like a joke at all.

"If you were kidnapping me," Maddie said, taking up the same light tone he was using; she imagined it was just as fake as his was, too, "you'd go about it in a much more intelligent manner."

"Why would I have to bother? You're going along with me easily enough now."

"I suppose. Then again, a whole bunch of people have seen you dragging me off and would immediately suspect you if I went missing. Although, for future reference, you may want to note that this whole 'forcing me along behind you' thing is generally reserved for excited first-years and horny upperclassmen who want to shove their girlfriends in broom closets and snog them senseless, and given that you aren't a first year-"

"Your point being?"

"Aren't you worried about rumors?"

Tom glanced at her carelessly.

"People do not spread rumors about me, Madeline. They're too afraid to do so. Either way, I would hardly care if they did." There was a very obvious unspoken, _Why should I care what those simpleminded peons say behind my back?, _but Maddie pretended to ignore it.

"That surprises me," she said thoughtlessly. "You seem the type to pay very close attention to how people perceive you, and then adjust your behavior according to your observations. I mean, it's interesting to watch and not all that surprising from a Slytherin, but it also doesn't coincide at all with what you just told me."

Tom glanced at her and began moving more quickly, almost as though he wanted to get away from her as soon as possible.

"Is that why you think so little of me? You do not find me genuine?"

"Merlin, no. I'm not saying it like it's a bad thing, but sometimes I catch little flashes of emotion from you, or awkward moments when you're obviously pretending to be happier, or calmer, or more interested than you are, and then the real emotions are gone, and it makes your fake ones a bit more obvious. To me, anyway. I don't think anyone else has noticed all that much-"

Tom cut her off by coming to a stop in front of an abandoned classroom. Without looking at Maddie, he tugged the door open and pulled her inside, then turned around and charmed the door looked behind them. Maddie wasn't sure why, but that last precaution seemed so unnecessary, and despite the way she'd been reassuring herself earlier, being so alone with Tom, despite the fact that it definitely wasn't the first time, scared her just enough that she found herself drawing her wand as he put the finishing touches on the door.

Tom turned around and caught her holding up her wand defensively, looking at him like she was worried he was going to attack her, and let out a low, chilling laugh.

"So you were more worried about the kidnapping thing than I thought?" He seemed to contemplate something for a moment, then allowed himself what looked a hell of a lot like a genuine smirk- not a smile, but a smirk, and that was still something- before he said, "You're smarter than you look, you know. Too talkative and somewhat grating, but perceptive. Wrongly so in this instance, however. I didn't charm the door to block out the sound of your screams or anything ridiculous like that-"

"I didn't say-"

He ignored her.

"-I simply wanted to make sure no one disturbed us." He frowned now, his expression morphing from one of something almost _real _back into a much more familiar mask. "I will give you that potion, but I discovered something that… troubles me, and strangely enough, I believe you'd be the only person in this school to potentially know anything about it. I believe now would be as good a time as any to discuss it."

Maddie frowned at his, unsure if it was another one of Tom's tactics to gain her trust, or if genuinely wanted to bounce this issue off of her. It seemed unlikely, impossible really, like the sun rising in the west or a legitimate rhyming poem with stanzas ending in 'orange' and 'purple'. Then again, she'd seen far stranger, and something told her he did think she might know about whatever it was he planned to question her about.

"I can't promise to help you any," said Maddie after a moment, "but I guess I'll hear you out. Um, can I have the potion first though? Not that I don't trust you, but-"

"-you don't trust me," Tom finished, not unhappily. He reached into the pocket of his robes and pulled out a glass vial containing what Maddie recognized as a perfectly brewed Wolfsbane potion. Relief washed over her in waves, and she quickly took the vial and stowed it away in her own pocket, relaxing slightly as one of her major worries had just been taken care of.

"I know you're still relatively mad at me for blackmailing you into this," Maddie said, unable to help herself, "but how likely would you be to kill me if I hugged you right now?"

"I wouldn't _kill-" _

She hugged him. Again. Hugging people really had turned into an awful habit for her, and she was well aware that doing so with Tom was probably stupid, but it was simply her tell-tale reaction to a good-deed done.

At least this time she was quick about it, pulling back before he even had the chance to stiffen properly.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," she said genuinely. "A million times over."

He narrowed his eyes and briskly said, "I believe I mentioned a more urgent matter."

"You didn't say it was urgent, just that you wanted to talk to me about it-"

"The Room of Requirement wasn't open the first time I tried it yesterday evening. I talked to Lestrange, and according to him, your sister was in the common room at the time. Have you told anyone else about that room?"

Maddie's eyes widened, and she was almost surprised at how quickly she made the connection. She generally was rather slow with things like that, but maybe the total lack of other possibilities made it too obvious even for her to miss.

She hadn't told anyone about the room, and she doubted Azaria had either, and it had been clear in _Hogwarts, a History, _that Tom had been the earliest known person to have known of its existence, and he sure as hell hadn't told anyone, meaning that someone _not _from the Hogwarts of that time was undoubtedly the culprit.

"It's the person we saw Monday night," Maddie breathed. "Or didn't see, but the one who was laughing-"

"I know who you mean, Madeline," Tom cut in sharply. He pursed his lips. "And you're sure about this?"

"Positive. I haven't said anything about the room, and Azaria _wouldn't_, and you haven't told anyone, have you?"

"Of course not."

"And I'm sure no one else knows-"

"Your uncle-"

"Wasn't him," said Maddie thoughtlessly. "I'm sure of it, just as sure as I am that it isn't anyone else in the school. Meaning it's someone from outside, and I think we both know that laughter hadn't come from a student, so… whoever that was, whoever we saw before… that's who was in there."

She said the words with a kind of certainty she hadn't felt in a long time. Her instincts told her she was right, and logically it almost kind of made sense, because an intruder had to have a place to stay, except…

Maddie froze .

What kind of intruder would know that that room even existed? If no one before Tom had bothered mentioning or recording it, logic said that it didn't matter how good Grindelwald's spies were, how good anyone who wanted to get into the castle was; they wouldn't know about a room that Dippet himself had no idea existed.

There were so many holes, so many uncertainties, that Maddie wasn't entirely, a hundred percent sure that her guess was right, but it was the only thing she could make fit, and, she realized with a terrible kind of comprehension, it was the only thing that made sense.

Dumbledore had been worried about another time-traveler working for Grindelwald, had hypothesized that it was likely the person Azaria wanted to come back with in the first place. Now there was someone in the school who knew about the Room of Requirement- just like everyone in Maddie's time did- and who had made a point of picking on _her _that night she heard the laughter. Which means whoever it was knew her, making it almost logical that he'd be a student at Hogwarts in the future, one who no doubt was friends with Azaria, and one who was apparently on Grindelwald's side if what happened in Paris was any indication.

And… and one who was now clearly inside Hogwarts, Maddie realized with a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Someone who traveled back in time, who wanted Grindelwald to win, who broke into Hogwarts…

Maddie looked at Tom in unconcealed horror, and suddenly the panic she felt when Dumbledore first told her she might not get back to the future, the terrible, awful sensation of potentially losing everything, came back twice as hard as before, because there was really only one logical move for the time traveler to make next.

"Madeline?" Tom asked. Maddie blinked, unsure of what to say, what to think… unsure if she was even _able _to think. "What on earth-"

"It's nothing," she finally blurted. She wasn't sure if she was talking to herself or Tom. "I'm being paranoid and crazy. That thing Uncle Al and I were fighting about… I just realized something about it, and I'm making awful, impossible connections, and it's a bunch of nonsense. What I'm thinking… I don't have any reason to think it, not at all." She laughed almost hysterically. "Now I'm blabbering, and…"

"Madeline?"

"Never mind. I'm just going crazy, really. I… I think we should head down to the Great Hall. Yes, that's a good idea, because I really want something to eat, and this conversation is becoming rather tedious, don't you agree?"

"There's something wrong," Tom said lowly. "Whoever's hiding in there… you know who it is."

"I don't," she protested. "I just have an awful suspicion about the nature of this person, but it's completely ridiculous. Nothing to worry about, really-"

She didn't get to finish her sentence; the sound of dozens of terrified kids, all screaming at once, cut her off in the most awful way possible.

"I think your suspicion may have just been proved correct," Tom said, and Maddie realized in a vague, detached way that his voice was actually _shaky_. That he looked panicked, scared almost, because it was very, very clear that something just happened that was going to haunt his home forever.

...

**A/N-**

**A lot of Tom/Maddie chatting. Actually, practically the whole chapter was dialogue between the two, so I apologize if that gets redundant. I just realized that thirty thousand words have gone by without the _real _part of the story popping up yet, and as much as I like Tom bickering with someone who honestly _isn't _his equal, things had to start happening, or this was going to turn into a two-hundred thousand word monster with too much of _nothing _occupying the first twenty chapters. **

**Anyhow, I don't have much else to say, other than maybe an apology for another late chapter. I do have Easter as an excuse this time, but I'm hoping things will go more smoothly now, especially because things really, really take off after this. Um, if anything's confusion, it's either supposed to be, or it's because of my awful editing and I'll get to fixing it later. No review replies for this chapter because it's dreadfully late and I do need to sleep, but I will never time around. **

**Okay. That was a lot of tired babbling, and I'll be quiet not. Thanks again for the wonderful support, and please keep telling me what you think. It's a proven fact that reviews lead to faster updates. :-)**

**~bballgirl32~**


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